Market Roundup 19 December 2023

Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,394.90 points, increased 1.49 points or 0.11% with a trading value of 33.4 billion baht. The analyst stated the Thai stock market moved narrowly in a positive territory without catalysts. The market was boosted by a surge in DELTA and INTUCH, while regional markets also moved in a narrow range as well.

 

Thailand’s customs-based exports recorded growth for a fourth straight month in November with an increase by 4.9% from a year earlier, but fell short of 6.3% growth forecast by economists from a Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, customs department data showed that imports in November rose 10.1% from last year, a much larger reading than 3.0% growth forecast in a Reuters poll.

Thailand’s customs-based trade balance for November was -2.4 billion dollars, compared to -0.55 billion dollars from a Reuters poll.

 

The Bank of Japan resolved on Tuesday to leave its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged at the final policy meeting of this year, citing high uncertainties in the country, while core inflation is expected to remain above 2% throughout fiscal 2024.

Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics at Oxford Economics and a former BOJ official also set his expectation for next April.

The yen has been strengthening against the dollar since early December after the comment from Governor Kazuo Ueda sparked hopes in traders to see some changes soon. The Japanese yen is trading at around 143 yen to a single US dollar, compared to a little over 151 yen in mid November.