1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,535.42 points, decreased 1.09 points or 0.07% with a trading value of 48 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market moved narrowly and closed slightly lower due to a lack of positive catalysts to drive the market. The analyst noted that investors should continue monitoring the process of forming the coalition government in Thailand and the negotiation to raise the debt limit in the U.S. Meanwhile, European stocks were pressured by economic outlook after latest data showed that Germany officially entered recession.
2) Asia remains Russia’s top destination for fuel shipments
Asia remained the main destination for Russian oil exports after the European Union’s embargo, data from Refinitive showed on Thursday.
Refinitiv data suggested that since the start of the year, Russia has exported 2.6 million tonnes and 2.1 million tonnes of dirty oil products, mostly fuel oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO), to China and India, respectively.
Singapore and Malaysia were also among the top five destinations for Russian-origin crude oil, importing nearly 3.5 million tonnes in total, while Turkey and Saudi Arabia received roughly 1.6 million tonnes each, according to Refinitiv data.
3) Germany officially enters into recession
Germany has officially entered into a recession after the final data showed a slight contraction in the economy in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the previous three months.
The data from the statistics office showed that gross domestic product in the first quarter fell by 0.3%. This came after a decline of 0.5% in the final quarter of 2022.
Inflation continues to weigh on the European biggest economy as household consumption was down 1.2% QoQ. In April 2023, inflation in Germany rose 7.2% on the same month a year earlier, a drop from 7.4% in March 2023 and 8.7% in February 2023. However, it was still higher than a 2.0% target range by the central bank.
