Stocks in Asia were mixed in the morning session on Wednesday as investors are monitoring trade data from Japan and Singapore with negative sentiment coming out from the US Fed.
As of 9:45 local time in Bangkok on Wednesday, Nikkei dipped 0.25%, SSEC gained 1%, HangSeng Index dropped 0.14%, Kospi fell 0.39% and ASX200 rose 0.20%.
Last night, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17%, snapping its six-straight day of losses. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 0.21% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.12%. On the other hand, the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly broke the 5% level following Powell’s remarks.
Yesterday, the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy has not seen inflation come back to the central bank’s target of 2%, which indicates that interest rate cuts may not happen anytime soon..
Krungsri Securities (KSS) expected Thailand’s SET Index to move within the support level between 1,380-1,385 points as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. Meanwhile, US inflation is not slowing down toward the Fed’s target as bond yields and dollars accelerated, resulting in a negative sentiment for investment. Still, the analyst expected a buying pressure from stocks with specific catalysts could lift the Thai stock market.
The IMF now anticipates a global growth rate of 3.2% for 2024, reflecting a marginal increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous January projection. This growth forecast aligns with the projection for 2023, with further expansion expected to continue at a rate of 3.2% in 2025.
The IMF also foresees a decline in global headline inflation from 6.8% in 2023 to 5.9% in 2024 and further to 4.5% in 2025. It is anticipated that advanced economies will reach their inflation targets sooner than emerging market and developing economies.
Oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday with the West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery fell by 5 cents to close at $85.36 a barrel. Meanwhile, the international benchmark Brent crude for June contract fell by 8 cents to close at $90.02 a barrel.
Oil prices continue to edge lower on Wednesday morning in Asian trading hours with WTI dropping 38 cents to $84.98 per barrel and Brent fell 35 cents to $89.67 a barrel.
