Baht steady for now, but state of Thai trade might bring volatility this year

The baht is expected to move between 32.45 and 32.65 per US dollar, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, SCB Securities senior market strategist.
On Tuesday night, financial markets around the world were in a risk-off state. The S&P 500 and Euro Stoxx 50 shed 3.07 per cent and 4.06 per cent respectively, due to a fall in the WTI crude oil price.
Recently, the oil price returned to $14 per barrel, after US President Donald Trump signalled that US energy businesses would be helped by the government.
US Ten-Year Treasury yields contracted by 2.8 basis points to 0.57 per cent, while German bond yields touched minus 0.48 per cent. Meanwhile, Italian yields grew around 10 to 20 basis points.
The market situation has led to the dollar strengthening at a low rate compared to other currencies. Also, those currencies that moved in line with commodities increased immediately when the oil price rose.
The dollar index stayed at 100 points.
At the same time, the baht moved only slightly. In the long term, investors must monitor Thai trade this year, which was expected to contract by 12.9 per cent, which would cause the currency to fluctuate more and more in the future.