1) Thai stock market overview
Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,559.39 points, increased 1.68 points or 0.11% with a trading value of 58 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market was fluctuating in today’s session in regards to the uncertainties of political issues in Thailand. Still, the energy sectors helped buoy the market to close higher. The analyst expected the market next week to move in a sideways trend as the market will focus on the approval of MPs by the Election Committee.
2) BOJ keeps ultra-loose monetary policy and YCC in place
The Bank of Japan maintained interest rate in a negative territory on Friday and also maintained the yield-curve control policy, which was in line with expectations from economists.Japan’s central bank kept its short-term rate target at -0.1% to zero and Japanese government bonds 10-Y at -0.5% to 0.5% as the BOJ looks to support fragile economic growth amid uncertainties in the global economy.
Core inflation in Japan rose 3.4% in April, while its economic growth was revised up to 2.7%.
3) Western banks downgrade China GDP growth projection as recovery struggles
As recent data suggested that China is still struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic, major Western banks have trimmed their 2023 GDP growth projections for the world’s second-largest economy to between 5.2% and 5.7%.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that industrial output increased 3.5% in May compared to the same month last year, as weak demand in China and globally hindered its growth. The data was slower than the 5.6% increase in April and slightly below a 3.6% increase forecast by a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, retail sales growth which is a key gauge for consumer confidence, rose 12.7% in May from a year earlier, missing expectations of 13.6% growth and 18.4% in April.
Weaker results raised expectations that China would have to implement stimulus measures to shore up its economy.
