- USDTHB: moving in the range 34.53-34.58 this morning supportive level at 34.38 resistance level at 34.68
- SET Index: 1,352.6 (-0.05%), 16 Jan 2025
- S&P 500 Index: 5,937.3 (-0.21%), 16 Jan 2025
- Thai 10-year government bond yield (interpolated): 2.417 (-0.05 bps), 16 Jan 2025
- US 10-year treasury yield: 4.61 (-5.00 bps), 16 Jan 2025
- US initial jobless claims rose more than expected
- US Retail Sales expanded but less than market expectations
- China imposes provisional duties on US, EU, Japan, Taiwan industrial plastics
- UK economy’s disappointing November growth
- Bank of Korea surprises by holding rates steady as uncertainty lingers
- Dollar turns lower ahead of Trump inauguration
US initial jobless claims rose more than expected
US citizens filing new applications for unemployment insurance rose to 217K for the week ending Jan 10, which missed out initial estimates and was higher than the previous week's tally of 203K (revised from 201K). The report also highlighted a seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate of 1.2%, while the four-week moving average retreated to 212.75K, marking a decrease of 750 from the prior week’s revised average. Moreover, Continuing Jobless Claims went down by 18K to reach 1.859M for the week ending Jan 3.
US Retail Sales expanded but less than market expectations
Advance estimates of US Retail Sales climbed by 0.4%MoM in December, reaching $729.2 billion. This figure was lower than November’s 0.8%MoM increase and came in short of market expectations of a 0.6%MoM rise. In addition, Retail Sales excluding Autos rose 0.4% during the same period, matching consensus and surpassing the previous 0.2% growth. Motor vehicle and parts dealers were up 8.4%, while non-store retailers were up 6.0% from last year.
China imposes provisional duties on US, EU, Japan, Taiwan industrial plastics
China would apply provisional duties on imports of industrial plastics from the US, EU, Japan, and Taiwan after a months-long anti-dumping investigation. The provisional anti-dumping levies on polyacetal copolymers range from 3.8% to 74.9% depending on the country and company and will commence from Jan 24. China launched the investigation in May, the same week that U.S. hiked tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and the European Union launched a trade investigation into certain Chinese steel imports.
UK economy’s disappointing November growth
Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy grew at a lackluster pace of 0.1% in November, compares with the 0.2% month-on-month growth expected by economists polled by Reuters. Services showed no growth over this three-month period, while construction output improved by 70 basis points, from a 0.3% fall in October to a 0.4% increase in November. It also grew by 0.2% over three months to November. In contrast, production output fell by 0.4%, following on from a 0.6% fall in October. Over three months to November, a drop in UK manufacturing levels led to a 0.7% reduction in growth.
Bank of Korea surprises by holding rates steady as uncertainty lingers
The Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Board decided to hold the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate steady at 3.0% during its first policy-setting meeting of the year on Jan16. The BOK had previously raised the interest rate from 0.5% to 3.5% between August 2021 and January 2023 and then kept it unchanged for a year and seven months. The central bank began monetary easing last year, lowering the rate to 3.0% in November. While inflation has shown signs of stabilizing and household debt growth has slowed, unexpected political risks have increased downside risks to growth and heightened exchange rate volatility.
Dollar turns lower ahead of Trump inauguration
The 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) on the previous trading day was 2.417, -0.05 bps. The benchmark government bond yield (LB346A) was 2.40, -1.00 bps. Meantime, the latest closed US 10-year bond yields was 4.61, -5.00 bps. USDTHB on the previous trading day closed around 34.475 Moving in a range of 34.53-34.58 this morning. USDTHB could be closed between 34.38-34.68 today. The US dollar index weakened on Thursday, as traders digested a slew of mixed economic news to gauge the outlook for the Federal Reserve's rate cuts this year. The dollar was weaker against the euro, which rose 0.1% to $1.03, while it was down 0.81% against the yen at 155.2, its lowest since Dec 19.
Sources : ttb analytics , Bloomberg, CNBC, Trading economics, Investing, CEIC
