1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,490.51 points, increased 0.05 points or less than 0% with a trading value of 35 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market moved narrowly as investors were concerned about the Fed’s plans to raise policy rates, resulting in an acceleration of bond yields and US dollars.
The analyst expected high volatility next week with US inflation coming out and the voting for PM in Thailand as well as earnings of the banking sector.
2) Goldman Sachs expects growing electric car use to boost copper demand
Goldman Sachs saw growing electric vehicles (EV) use a “key pillar of copper’s bullish story” and predicted that the sector would require 1 million tonnes (mt) of copper this year and 1.5 mt in 2025.
“Due to copper’s highly conductive and ductile nature, it is an ideal candidate for transformation and transmission of electrical energy in EVs,” the bank said in a note dated on Wednesday.
Roughly two-thirds of the growth in global copper demand last year was linked to EV production. Goldman Sachs forecasts that EVs will account for roughly 27% of increased copper use over the next decade.
In the second quarter, London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark copper prices fell 7.5% due to weak Chinese demand recovery and global growth concerns.
However, Goldman Sachs predicts that copper consumption would decrease in EVs over the long run, with the amount of copper needed per EV expected to drop to 65 kg per unit by 2030 from 73 kg in 2022.
3) Japan’s base salary jumps to highest level in 28 years as markets eye BOJ’s policy shift
The government data on Friday showed that Japan’s base salary rose at the fastest pace in 28 years in May, adding hopes that the central bank will finally step out of its ultra-loose monetary stimulus.
Regular wages rose 1.8% in May from last year, according to the data released on Friday, which was the biggest gain since February 1995.
The market has been watching Japan’s wage data closely after the Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that pay growth will be a key gauge for the central bank to consider a shift in policy.
Earlier, Japan’s largest labor organization Rengo noted that major companies had agreed to raise salaries by an average of 3.58% this year, the highest since 3.9% in 1993.
