- USDTHB : moving in the range 34.25 – 34.35 this morning, supporting level of USDTHB is around 34.00 resistance level is around 34.50
- SET Index: 1,623.0 (+1.05%), 20 May 2022
- S&P 500 Index: 3,901.4 (+0.01%), 20 May 2022
- Thai 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) : 3.12% (-2.80 bps), 20 May 2022
- US 10-year treasury yield: 2.78 (-6.00bps), 20 May 2022
- UK retail sales jump unexpectedly, but big picture bleak
- Oil climbs in tight market as U.S. driving season looms
- Moody's downgrades Ukraine to "Caa3" on debt uncertainty
- Dollar tracked back as hopes on China growth return
UK retail sales jump unexpectedly, but big picture bleak
British retail sales jumped unexpectedly in April as shoppers loaded up on alcohol and tobacco, likely a blip in an otherwise bleak trend that has driven consumer confidence to all-time lows amid a worsening cost-of-living crunch. Retail sales volumes rose 1.4% month on month after a 1.2% drop in March. The wider picture remains disconcerting. Retail sales in the three months to April fell 0.3%, after a 0.7% drop in March. Compared with a year ago, sales volumes were 4.9% lower, marking the biggest annual drop since January 2021. Earlier on Friday, Britain's longest-running gauge of consumer confidence, the GfK survey, fell to its lowest since records began in 1974.
Oil climbs in tight market as U.S. driving season looms
Oil prices rose in early trade on Monday with U.S. fuel demand, tight supply and a slightly weaker U.S. dollar supporting the market, as Shanghai prepares to reopen after a two-month lockdown fueled worries about a sharp slowdown in growth. Brent crude futures rose 82 cents to $113.37 a barrel at 0126 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 69 cents, or 0.6%, to $110.97 a barrel, adding to last week's small gains for both contracts. A weaker U.S. dollar also sent oil higher on Monday, as that makes crude cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. Market gains have been capped, however, by concerns about China's efforts to crush COVID with lockdowns, even with Shanghai due to reopen on June 1.
Moody's downgrades Ukraine to "Caa3" on debt uncertainty
Moody’s downgraded Ukraine's foreign currency sovereign credit rating to "Caa3" from "Caa2", with a negative outlook, citing increased risks to the government's "debt sustainability" following Russia's invasion. Moody's said it expects the military conflict in Ukraine to be more prolonged than initially assumed and forecasts the country's real gross domestic product (GDP) to shrink by about 35% in 2022. The agency, which earlier kept the country's outlook under review, revised it due to uncertainty around the evolution of the war and credit implications associated with it.
Dollar tracked back as hopes on China growth return
The 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) on the previous trading day was 3.12, -2.80 bps. The benchmark government bond yield (LB31DA) was 3.08, -2.00 bps. LB31DA could be between 3.00-3.12. Meantime, the latest closed US 10-year bond yields was 2.78%, -6.00bps. USDTHB on the previous trading day closed around 34.45 Moving in a range from 34.25-34.35 this morning. USDTHB could be closed between 34.20-34.40 today. The dollar began the week on the back foot, following its first weekly loss in nearly two months, as investors cut bets on further dollar gains from rising U.S. rates and turned hopeful that loosening lockdowns in China can help global growth.
