Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,370.44 points, decreased 6.13 points or 0.45% with a trading value of 49.68 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market decreased as it was pressured by the sales of stocks with poor 1Q24 performance, such as BJC and property stocks, and the selloff of stocks to mitigate risks before the announcement of CPI figures from the US coming tonight.
The analyst expected the market to depend on inflation figures from the US tomorrow.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) opted to leave a key policy rate unchanged at 2.50% during the rollover of maturing medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans on Wednesday, aligning with market expectations.
Analysts suggest that the unchanged MLF rate demonstrates the central bank’s commitment to ensuring currency stability, despite an unexpected credit contraction in April that heightened the need for additional policy stimulus to bolster the country’s economy.
This move comes as the bank prepares for the finance ministry’s upcoming issuance of 1 trillion yuan in ultra-long-term special treasury bonds. The central bank announced that it would maintain the rate on 125 billion yuan ($17.28 billion) in one-year MLF loans to some financial institutions at 2.50% from the previous operation.
Thailand’s new Finance Minister, Pichai Chunhavajira, made the first significant move as a minister by stating that he would meet with the central bank governor on Thursday after the government and the Bank of Thailand had been arguing on a spat about the country’s monetary policy for months.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has urged the central bank to cut interest rates as he suggested that it would bolster the Thai economy, while the central bank showed no signs of agreement and held its key rate at 2.50%, with the next rate review being on June 12.
The Thai PM had to resort to holding a meeting with Thai commercial banks, which collectively came to the conclusion for the banks to carry out temporary voluntary rate cuts for vulnerable groups.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reduced its forecast for the growth of oil demand in 2024, further increasing the gap between the IEA and OPEC in terms of their views on global oil demand for this year.
The energy watchdog based in Paris has trimmed its growth forecast for this year by 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.1 million bpd, attributing mainly to weak demand in developed OECD countries.
On the other hand, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reaffirmed on Tuesday its anticipation that global oil demand will increase by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024.
The substantial gap between the two forecasts is partially due to differing opinions on the pace of the global shift towards cleaner energy sources.
Meanwhile, investors are assessing the US oil inventory data, with US crude oil inventories dropping by 3.10 million barrels in the week ending on May 10. Additionally, gasoline inventories declined by 1.26 million barrels, while distillate inventories increased by 673,000 barrels.
