Covid-19 situation to influence direction of baht this week
The baht's direction this week will be determined by developments in the spread of the new coronavirus outside China after the baht moved up against the US dollar last week, says Kasikorn Research Centre The baht this week from March 9-13 is expected to move in a range of Bt31.20-31.80/USD, Kasikorn Research Centre has forecast.
The most important factor to affect the direction of the baht is the latest coronavirus spreading outside China. Key economic indicators include the US February inflation rate measured by consumer price index and producer index, the primary survey of consumer confidence in March, the meeting of European Central Bank on March 12, China’s February economic indicators and report of the fourth-quarter GDP growth of Japan and the euro-zone.
Last week, the baht strengthened in the latter part of the week, but moved in a narrow range against the US dollar for the whole week.
The baht was under pressure similar to other regional currencies, as investors were worried about the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
Foreign investors made net sales of both equities and bonds in mid-week. However, the baht regained some of its losses after the US Federal Reserve made an urgent rate cut by half a percentage point.
The baht was also boosted by the selling of the dollar before releasing the US non-agriculture labour employment report.
The baht hovered at around Bt31.40/USD on Friday, up from Bt31.56/USD on February 28.
