Baht under pressure from BOT measures
The baht opened at 31.31 to the US dollar on Thursday, unchanged from its closing rate on Wednesday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.20 and 30.40, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Wednesday night, the S&P 500 decreased by 1.2 per cent amid market concern over the dire Covid-19 situation in the US.
The Stoxx 600 Index increased by 0.4 per cent due to investors’ hopes that the EU would issue a fresh stimulus package, he said.
Meanwhile, the WTI crude oil price rose by 0.7 per cent, to $41.70 (Bt1,265) per barrel.
The dollar continued to weaken, and the US Ten-Year Treasury yield decreased by 2 basis points to 0.88 per cent. Investors decided to invest in the yen as a safe-haven asset. Bitcoin was trading at $17,000 (Bt51,5856) amid speculation.
In Thailand, the baht came under pressure from the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) measures to prevent the currency from strengthening quickly. However, Jitipol said the recent movement of the baht was not mainly from speculation, so BOT will not implement strict measures targeting speculators.
