Krungsri Securities (KSS) expected Thailand’s SET Index to trade in a limited range of 1,400-1,420 points on Wednesday. Even with declining bond yields, following speculation by the market that the Fed could end its rate-hike cycle, a fall in oil prices would pressure the market, especially the energy sector, after the report of slowing down in China’s exports.
KSS also expected investors to hold back on trading stocks, while monitoring comments from Fed’s officials and also US inflation.
The Topix banks index made a sharp plunge in the morning session on Wednesday, dropping by more than 3% after the market lost hope of seeing positive interest rates.
The drop came after the Bank of Japan’s Governor Kazuo Ueda signalling that it is unlikely policymakers will have sufficient data to declare an end to negative rates by year-end as he continues to monitor whether a wage-inflation cycle will materialize.
This could cause a switch for investors into other sectors as Japanese banks could not get any support from its own central bank.
Crude oil prices dropped sharply on Tuesday to hit the lowest point in about four months amid slowdown in global demand overshadowed the Israel-Hamas war that could tighten oil supply and further production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The international benchmark Brent crude fell $3.57 or 4.2% to close at $81.61 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) plunged $3.45 or 4.3% to $77.37 a barrel.
Weak exports data from China yesterday also pressured the commodity market as well as October exports went into a more negative direction of $3.1 million or 6.4% YoY lower, which is almost double the Reuters poll expectation of 3.3%.
