Thailand’s SET Index closed at 1,380.65 points, decreased 21.07 points or 1.50% with a trading value of 56.7 billion baht. The analyst stated that the Thai stock market plunged sharply following the negative sentiment from the speculation that the US Fed may not be in a hurry to cut rates, which pressured investment in risk assets that rallied earlier. China’s GDP growth was lower than the market estimation, while the housing prices declined to the lowest level in nine years. This reflected an unhealthy economy for China.
The analyst expected the market to technically rebound tomorrow, while investors kept their eye on the US stock markets tonight.
China’s economy expanded 5.2% in the fourth quarter from the same period last year, according to the official data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.
Growth in the final quarter of last year was slightly lower than expectations from economists polled by Reuters at 5.3%, but still growing at a faster pace than a 4.9% expansion in the third quarter.
Notably, growth for the full-year of 2023 was at 5.2%, making it higher than the annual growth target from Beijing at 5% after missing it a year prior. Growth also matched analysts expectations as well.
China’s economy was boosted by stimulus packages from the Chinese authorities to pump its sluggish demand after coming out of Covid-10 pandemic.
U.K. inflation unexpectedly rose to 4% year-on-year in December due to an increase in alcohol and tobacco prices.
Annual consumer price index in the U.K. had been trending down since February 2023. This marked the first rise on a year-on-year basis.
The increase was also higher than a forecast polled by Reuters for a 3.8% rise after falling at a sharper-than-expected in November to 3.9%.
The headline inflation rose by 0.4% month-on-month in December, which was also above the forecast for a 0.2% rise and up from a contraction of 0.2% in November.
Meanwhile, U.K. core CPI, which excludes volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices, rose 5.1%, which was above a 4.9% expectation polled by Reuters.
