1) Thai stock market roundup
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,593.13 points, increased 16.06 points or 1.02% with a trading value of 36 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market edged higher from surges in big-cap stocks but with low trading volume as the Thai market is close to a long holiday and other markets were closed on Easter. The banking sector also performed well as investors were speculating on 1Q23 earnings.
The analyst expected the Thai stock market to move in a sideways direction tomorrow and advised investors to monitor the U.S. inflation data on Wednesday.
2) Saudi Aramco to continue oil supply to Asian refiners despite OPEC+ output cuts
Despite an unexpected OPEC+ oil production cut, State oil giant Saudi Aramco says it will supply full crude contract volumes loading in May to several North Asian buyers, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
This follows last week’s shock announcement of a further output cut of 1.16 million barrels per day from May for the rest of the year by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+. Reuters estimates that the overall volume of cutbacks by OPEC+, now stands at 3.66 million bpd, or 3.7% of global demand.
Among OPEC+ members, Saudi Arabia has pledged the largest reduction, at 500,000 barrels per day. The cuts are in addition to those announced in October.
3) Apple’s PC shipments plunge sharply as demand slows down
PC shipments plunged sharply this year as demand for work engine post-pandemic era slowdown, according to the latest report by IDC.
Shipments by all PC makers dropped 29% to 56.9 million units in the first quarter of this year as the trend of working from home during and after the Covid-19 pandemic died down and people are returning to office for their usual work.
Apple Inc. took the largest hit as its personal computer shipments plunged 40.5% in the first three months this year. Meanwhile, Lenovo Group Ltd. and Dell Technologies Inc. recorded more than 30% drop. Asustek Computer Inc. and HP Inc. fell 30.3% and 24.2%, respectively.
