The Baht remains strong while Asian stock markets slide

The baht continues to be strong while the escalating trade war and violent protests in Hong Kong cause Asian stock markets to slide.

The Hang Seng Index shed more than 3 per cent at some point this morning (August 26) as investors worried about a new round of trade tensions between the. United States and China. Violent protest in Hong Kong also contributed to the market dropping sharply.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index lost 1.69 per cent in open trading this morning.

Japan ‘s Nikkei 225 was down more than 2 per cent in morning trading, South Korea’s Kospi dropped over 1 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite lost over 1per cent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index and Malaysian Kuala Lumpur Composite Index also dropped more than 1 per cent.

Markets in Asia followed Wall Street’s large drop on Friday after China and the US raised tariffs on each other products.

The baht remained strong this morning moving around Bt30.60 against the dollar, appreciating from Bt30.70 on Friday, according to Kasikorn Research Centre.

Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of capital markets research at Kasikornbank noted the gold price had recovered following tweets by US President Donald Trump, ratcheting up tariffs.

Higher gold prices should mean Thai gold players will take profit on gold by selling gold against the US dollar and then selling the dollar against the baht, he added. The Gold Traders Association in Bangkok quoted gold prices this morning as buying at Bt22,200 per gold bar and selling at Bt22,300.