Finansia Syrus Securities (FSS) expected Thailand’s SET Index to move sideways in the same direction as regional markets, but without positive catalysts to boost the market. Investors are monitoring upcoming economic figures scheduled to be announced later this week, including China’s PMI and US PCE. Meanwhile, there are still overhanging situations for Thai political issues that pressure the Thai stock market.
At the beginning of 2024, the market was pricing six rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve this year, six cuts from the European Central Bank, and five cuts from the Bank of England. However, persistent inflation and geopolitical issues, the market is now pricing two-and-a-half cuts by the ECB, one-and-a-half cuts by the Fed and the BoE.
Corporate services prices in Japan saw their most significant increase since early 2015 in April, according to data from the Bank of Japan reported on Tuesday. The rise of 2.8% year-on-year in the Corporate Services Price Index (CSPI) for April, compared to a 2.4% rise in the previous month, reflects a positive trend, particularly driven by rising labour costs in the services sector.
In April, service prices increased by 0.7% from March, although this growth rate was slightly slower compared to the previous month’s 0.9%. The increase in labour costs was particularly notable in labour-intensive service industries like machine repair and industrial facility renovation.
