Fresh wave of Covid-19 cases in Asia casts shadow over baht recovery
The baht opened at 31.12 to the US dollar this morning (June 17), unchanged from its previous close.
The Thai currency is expected to move between 31.00 and 31.20 today, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, head of Markets Strategy at SCB Securities.
The US foreign exchange market gained positive sentiment from the US economic recovery after retail sales in May recovered by 17.7 per cent month on month.
The S&P 500 rose for three consecutive days by 1.9 per cent, while Euro Stoxx 50 increased by 2.9 per cent. US Ten-Year Treasury bonds, meanwhile, rose by three basis points to 0.75 per cent.
The Asian foreign exchange market is currently under pressure from uncertainty following the fresh wave of Covid-19 cases in Beijing and Tokyo, causing the dollar to strengthen compared to other currencies by approximately 0.2 per cent, Jitipol said.
The baht also weakened due to uncertainty among foreign investors about the impact on their Asian operations from the new Covid-19 outbreak.
In addition, problems between countries in the Asian region may slow the recovery of the baht, Jitipol added.
