1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,485.32 points, decreased 20.20 points or 1.34% with a trading value of 40 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market closed lower, following the movement in global markets in concerns of the Fed’s future rate hikes. A selloff in big-cap stocks also dragged the market down below the resistance level. The analyst expected tomorrow’s movement to be within the range or could rebound due to a sharp decline in the past few days.
2) Economists expect Chinese tourists to help Thai baht strengthen toward year-end
Economists at Siam Commercial Bank, however, have suggested that the influx of tourists, particularly from China, in the second half of the year will serve as a positive catalyst to revive the baht in the following month.
According to Poonyawat Sreesing, senior economist at Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok, “a significant influx of tourists in the second half can contribute to a surplus in the current account by boosting tourism receipts, which will positively affect the value of the baht.” He predicted that by the end of the year, the baht may be priced as much as 32 per dollar, a 10% increase over its current value.
3) S&P Global cuts China’s GDP growth in 2023 to 5.2%
S&P Global stated that it has cut its economic growth forecast for China in 2023 after several sets of data in recent months showed a faltering recovery from the termination of zero-Covid policy.
The credit rating company revised 2023 GDP growth down to 5.2% from 5.5%, expecting the recovery of the world’s second largest economy to continue but at an uneven pace with investment and industry lagging.
S&P Global is the first major international credit agency to cut the GDP forecast for China this year. Goldman Sachs, UBS, Standard Chartered, BoA, and JPMorgan recently cut China’s growth in 2023 as well, adding that there is further turbulence ahead for the economy.
4) OPEC predicts daily oil consumption to reach 110 million barrels by 2045
OPEC projects global oil demand will reach 110 million barrels per day within the next 20 years, resulting in a 23% increase in the world’s energy demand, contrary to the IEA’s earlier forecast of a decline in demand growth.
Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said at the first Energy Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday that the world’s demand for oil is expected to rise to 110 million barrels per day by 2045, and that “oil is irreplaceable for the foreseeable future.”
This outlook runs counter to projections of the International Energy Agency that annual demand growth will slow from 2.4 million barrels per day in 2023 to 400,000 barrels per day in 2028.
