Maybank Securities (Thailand) (MST) anticipated that the SET Index will take a breather within the range of 1355-1375 points today. The US manufacturing and service sector PMI report for May came out better than expected. This increases concern about inflation slowing down and affecting the rate cut pace, as reflected by the latest FEDWATCH Tool, which revised its view that US interest rates will be cut once this year in November, compared to the previous expectation of two cuts, with the first in September. As a result, the US stock market dropped yesterday by 0.4% to 1.5%. The 10-year U.S. Bond Yield rose 5 bps, and the Dollar Index strengthened by 0.6%. This environment is viewed as having a negative sentiment towards the stock market and fund flows in the region.
Japan’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation decreased as predicted in April, with private spending remaining weak, fueling skepticism about the Bank of Japan’s projection of increased inflation and its ability to raise interest rates.
According to data from the Statistics Bureau released on Friday, the core CPI, excluding volatile fresh food prices, increased by 2.2% year-on-year in April, meeting expectations and down from the 2.6% growth in the previous month.
A key indicator of underlying inflation used by the BOJ, the core CPI, which excludes both fresh food and food prices, dropped to 2.4% in April from 2.9% in March. This marked the lowest level since September 2022 and significantly below the 40-year peak reached in mid-2023.
The headline CPI inflation also declined from 2.7% to 2.5% compared to the previous month.
In a coordinated decision, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to eight spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), underscoring a frantic effort to secure their approval before the deadline.
The SEC has granted approval for the 19b-4 forms submitted by various ETF providers including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton.
While the necessary forms have been endorsed, the ETF issuers must await the effectiveness of their S-1 registration statements before trading activities can commence. The SEC has initiated discussions with the issuers regarding their S-1 forms, albeit recently. The timeline for this process remains uncertain, with some analysts suggesting that it could potentially stretch over the course of several weeks.
