briefs

Bangkok Bank has tied up with Japan’s Kinki Osaka Bank to offer comprehensive financial-service solutions to Osaka businesses that are Kinki customers and want to explore business opportunities in Thailand.
Kinki Osaka Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Resona Holdings, engages in retail banking activities
in that Japanese city. Bangkok Bank has two branches in Japan, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka.
– The Nation

Baht halts 4-day slide
The baht snapped a four-day drop on speculation exporters will take advantage of the currency’s decline to a one-year
low to convert income at a more favourable exchange rate.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares rose on optimism European leaders will act to contain their region’s debt crisis, boosting demand for emerging-market assets. Policy-makers at the European Central Bank are likely to debate restarting covered-bond purchases, a euro-region central bank official said on condition of anonymity.
“We can expect exporter demand towards month-end,” said Tohru Nishihama, a Tokyo-based economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
“The stock-market rally is supporting sentiment, but the baht may remain under pressure due to risk aversion.”
The baht gained 0.5 per cent to 30.98 per US dollar as of 3.03pm in Bangkok after touching 31.22 earlier, the weakest level since September 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency has dropped 3.3 per cent this month and 0.8 per cent this quarter. The baht may slide towards 31.50 by the end of this week, Nishihama said.
Government bonds gained for a second day. The yield on the 5.25-per-cent notes due May 2014 declined 6 basis points to 3.53 per cent.
– Bloomberg
 
Bt120m for HomePro Expo
Home Products Center has budgeted Bt120 million to hold HomePro Expo at Muang Thong Thani from October 14-25.
The company targets sales of Bt700 million from the 12-day event, senior vice president Nat Jaritchana said yesterday.
– The Nation