Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,388.37 points, decreased 0.23 points or 0.02% with a trading value of 29.07 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market traded sideways as there were no new positive factors. As for international factors, investors were concerned about the possibility that the US Fed might hold its interest longer than expectations, causing bond yield to bounce back.
The analyst expected the market to trade narrowly, while investors awaited 4Q23 earnings reports and the Fed’s speech on the overall economic figures from the US to analyze the trend of interest rate.
India’s refiners have been buying low-priced crude oil from Russia since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2022, accumulating 36% of the country’s oil imports.
India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, told CNBC that India kept oil prices affordable by buying oil from Russia, while also pointing out that buying oil from the Middle East would not be as cheap.
This led India’s oil imports from the Middle East to drop to a record low.
Oil prices constantly gained from the conflict and tension in the Middle East and the Red Sea, while rising output from the US and a slowed global economy brought the price down from time to time.
The report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday stated the expectation for India to be the largest driver for the growth of global oil demand from 2023 to 2030.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned to uplift the capacity of the country’s annual oil refining by 80% to 450 million tons, as he showed confidence that India could reach the target.
On Wednesday, the Bank of Thailand announced the resolution from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) with a 5 to 2 vote to maintain the policy rate at 2.50 percent, which led some analysts to conclude that the Bank of Thailand might cut interest rates earlier than expected this year.
Many analysts comprehended the votes differently as the 2 votes that disagreed with the resolution could be the signal that rate cuts could come in the near future.
Nomura stated in its note that it expected the BOT to potentially cut interest rates by a total of 100 basis points this year, starting in April. The firm previously forecasted the cut with 50 basis points but adjusted the number after the central bank announced its decision.
As for Morgan Stanley, the firm expected the BOT to cut interest rates by 100 basis points by the end of 2025. The first rate cut is also expected to be in April.
The central bank also revised down the country’s 2024 GDP growth to 2.5%-3% and forecasted the headline inflation to stabilize at around 1%.
