Central bank inflow curbs rattle local bourse

Central bank inflow curbs rattle local bourse

Recap: Global shares mostly edged higher on Friday after Wall Street ended overnight with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 27,000 points for the first time. On the domestic front, investors' nerves were rattled as the Bank of Thailand introduced new measures to curb speculative offshore inflows, with the cap on non-resident baht accounts cut by one-third to 200 million baht.

The SET index moved in a range of 1,721.33 and 1,748.15 points before closing at 1,731.59, almost unchanged from the previous week, in turnover averaging 67.22 billion baht a day.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 6.2 billion baht in Thai shares. Institutional investors were net sellers of 4.5 billion, brokerage firms offloaded 873.8 million and retail investors sold 814.1 million.

Newsmakers: US President Donald Trump warned that sanctions against Iran would soon be "increased substantially" after Tehran said it had exceeded a limit on enriched uranium reserves under the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington.

President Trump on Thursday joined the growing chorus against Libra, the cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook. Cryptocurrencies, he said, are "not money", and if Facebook wants to be a bank, it should apply for a banking licence.

Britain's ambassador to Washington resigned on Wednesday following the leak of diplomatic cables highly critical of US President Donald Trump. Sir Kim Darroch's position became untenable when Boris Johnson, expected to become Britain's next prime minister, said he could not rule out replacing the envoy.

Boris Johnson stood accused of having nothing to offer Britain but "blind optimism" as he and Conservative leadership rival Jeremy Hunt clashed over Brexit in a bad-tempered TV debate on Tuesday night.

Top US and Chinese negotiators held telephone talks on Tuesday as the world's top two economies prepared for new negotiations in hopes of resolving their year-old trade war.

British Airways has been fined £183 million after computer hackers last year stole bank details from hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Deutsche Bank has made the first of the 18,000 job cuts as part of a radical reorganisation, with teams of share traders in Tokyo and other Asian offices told their jobs were gone.

The new cabinet line-up formally announced on Wednesday evening is an unruly grab-bag of holdovers from the military junta led by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, 11 people who served in governments led by parties affiliated with Thaksin Shinawatra, key Democrat and Bhumjaithai figures, assorted provincial power-brokers and one person who has been accused of serious crimes but never convicted.

Political uncertainty is a major risk sapping investor and consumer confidence and clouding Thailand's economic outlook, the World Bank warned his week.

The new government is expected to spend 20 billion baht on economic stimulus in the final quarter of the year to raise full-year GDP growth above 3%, says the Economic Intelligence Center of Siam Commercial Bank. The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking is less optimistic and has cut its forecast to below 3%.

The Bank of Thailand sees no need to quickly adjust monetary policy despite expecting lower economic growth this year, says governor Veerathai Santiprabhob.

Two key central bank committees have voiced concerns that threats to financial stability are still on the rise as household debt accumulation accelerates, particularly in auto loans.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand has floated the idea of launching a digital "stablecoin" as an alternative to Libra, the much-criticised digital currency proposed by Facebook. Libra could face difficulty entering Thailand because it does not fall under any type of financial legislation, says a legal expert.

The Thai Bond Market Association will meet with new Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana to request a review of the 15% withholding tax placed on fixed-income funds set to take effect on Aug 20.

The Customs Department aims to link the National Single Window with three more countries -- Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines -- this year, expanding the electronic exchange system of trade-related data.

The number of digital TV channels will decline from 22 to 15 on Oct 1, with the exit of seven channels that have been approved for compensation for the unused portion of their license fees approved by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has invested an undisclosed amount in Go-Jek, the Indonesian super-app valued at an estimated US$10 billion, as Thai banks line up to fund ride-hailing services and expand into the lucrative digital finance sector with offshore partners.

SET-listed Energy Absolute Plc (EA) says it aims to have 1,000 charging stations for electric vehicles by the end of this year after developing 500 stations so far.

SET-listed PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC) plans to finalise its decision on a biodegradable plastic production facility by October after several postponements.

Coming up: Germany will release May trade figures on Monday. Australia will release June business confidence on Tuesday and the Westpac consumer confidence index for July on Wednesday. The same day, China will announce June inflation and Britain will release May trade data.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes of its most recent meeting on Thursday and the US and Germany will announce June inflation the same day. China will release June trade figures on Friday.

Stocks to watch: DBS Vickers Securities Thailand advises investors to monitor the government's policy announcements in Parliament on July 24-25 for clues to stimulus and infrastructure plans. It suggests investing in equities related to consumer, construction and industrial estate sectors, with picks including AMATA, AEONTS, CPALL WHA, CK and STEC.

Finansia Syrus Securities' recommended stock picks for July are ICHI, KKP, MINT, PTTGC and SEAFCO.

Technical view: DBS Vickers sees support at 1,700 points and resistance at 1,760 points. Maybank Kim Eng Securities Thailand sees support at 1,700 and resistance at 1,770.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (1)