- USDTHB: moving in the range 34.84-34.89 this morning supportive level at 34.75 resistance level at 35.00
· SET Index: 1,549.0 (+0.22%), 23 Aug 2023
· S&P 500 Index: 4,436.0 (+1.10%), 23 Aug 2023
· Thai 10-year government bond yield (interpolated): 2.79 (+2.32 bps), 23 Aug 2023
· US 10-year treasury yield: 4.19 (-15.00 bps), 23 Aug 2023
- US economy near stalling point as consumer demand weakens
- Slide in euro zone service sector sharpens ECB's rates dilemma
- Japan's price trend gauges hit record, signal broadening inflation
- Dollar retreats as data shows US economy near stalling point
US economy near stalling point as consumer demand weakens U.S. business activity approached the stagnation point in August, with growth at its weakest since February as demand for new business in the vast service sector contracted. S&P Global said its flash U.S. Composite PMI index, which tracks manufacturing and service sectors, fell to a reading of 50.4 in August from 52 in July, the biggest drop since November 2022. While August's reading was the seventh straight month of growth, it was only fractionally above the 50-level separating expansion and contraction as demand weakened for both manufactured goods and services. For months, a strong labor market and resilient consumer spending has increasingly assuaged fears of recession and led to upward revisions of GDP growth forecasts.
Slide in euro zone service sector sharpens ECB's rates dilemma Euro zone business activity declined far more than thought in August with the slide in Germany particularly fast, while some inflationary pressures returned. Purchasing managers' indexes complicate matters for the European Central Bank which wants to control still rampant price rises without causing a recession. It is expected to pause interest rate hikes in September, according to a narrow majority of economists polled by Reuters, despite elevated inflation. A further rise in rates by year-end remains on the cards, however, following the central bank's most aggressive policy tightening cycle. Activity in the bloc's dominant services industry declined for the first time this year and the contraction in manufacturing output continued, although there were some signs of a turnaround for factories.
Japan's price trend gauges hit record, signal broadening inflation Japan may be seeing early signs of sticky inflation with several measures of broad price trends hitting record highs in July, data showed, heightening the case for a retreat from decades of ultra-loose monetary policy. Based on the government's consumer price data, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) releases several measurements of underlying inflation that look at the distribution of price changes. The indices are closely watched by the BOJ for clues on whether price rises are driven by one-off factors like fuel or broadening enough to sustainably hit its 2% inflation target. The "trimmed mean" index, which strips away the upper and lower tails of the distribution, rose a record 3.3% in July from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, accelerating from a 3.0% gain in June.
Dollar retreats as data shows US economy near stalling point The 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) on the previous trading day was 2.79, +2.32 bps. The benchmark government bond yield (LB31DA) was 2.76, +3.00 bps. Meantime, the latest closed US 10-year bond yields was 4.19,-15.00 bps. USDTHB on the previous trading day closed around 34.95. Moving in a range of 34.84-34.89 this morning. USDTHB could be closed between 34.75-35.00 today. The U.S. dollar eased against a basket of currencies on Wednesday after data showed U.S. business activity approached the stagnation point in August, with growth at its weakest since February as demand for new business in the vast service sector contracted. S&P Global said its flash U.S. Composite PMI index, which tracks manufacturing and service sectors, fell to a reading of 50.4 in August from 52 in July, the biggest drop since November 2022. Michael Brown, market analyst at Trader X, said the data does "rather threaten the 'U.S. exceptionalism' narrative that the market has been trading on for the last couple of weeks.“ For months, a strong labor market and resilient consumer spending have increasingly assuaged fears of recession, and led to upward revisions of GDP growth forecasts. But Wednesday's data painted a more tepid picture about the economy.
Sources : ttb analytics , Bloomberg, CNBC, Trading economics, Investing, CEIC
