Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,387.27 points, increased 2.16 points or 0.16% with a trading value of 42.02 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market slightly rebounded to conform with the Asia market. The Thai stock market also benefited from the rise of CPALL and CPAXT, which reported larger-than-expected corporate earnings, and other big-cap stocks due to the dividend payment and the growing trend of the companies. Moreover, import stocks also benefited from the weakening baht.
The analyst expected the market to trade narrowly tomorrow.
Japan’s economy contracted 0.4% in the fourth quarter, compared to a year ago, and after a revised 3.3% drop in the third quarter ended September 2023.
The fourth quarter reading was may below expectations of 1.4% growth by a Reuters poll.
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Japan’s economy also contracted 0.1% in the fourth quarter and after a slump of 0.8% in the third quarter. It was also weaker than a 0.3% expansion expected by economists.
The fall in the fourth quarter complicated policy movement from the Bank of Japan for interest rate normalization and also fiscal policy support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. With the latest shrinkage, Germany has taken the position of the world’s third largest economy last year in dollar terms.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) of the United Kingdom reported that gross domestic product (GDP) in 4Q23 slid by 0.3%.
The decline posted the second consecutive decrease on a quarter basis, which was considered to be a technical recession for the country.
Economists polled by Reuters foresaw the 4Q23 GDP figures of the UK to be a negative 0.1%, while the reported numbers showed contraction in three main sectors of the country, which were a drop of 0.2% in services, 1% in production, and 1.3% in construction output.
The estimated GDP for the year 2023 of the UK was an increase of 0.1% YoY.
Meanwhile, inflation in the UK has slumped noticeably to 4%, but still higher than the country’s economic peers and the target of the Bank of England (BOE) of 2%.
