Baht appreciates against dollar but market turbulence predicted
The baht opened at 29.98 to the US dollar on Friday, strengthening from Thursday’s close of 30.01.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 29.95 and 30.05 and in line with the dollar, Krungthai market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
On Thursday night, financial markets were in a risk-on state in response to the rise in listed companies' turnover and strong US economic data despite the Covid-19 impact.
The abovementioned factors helped stock markets to rebound after falling the previous day. The S&P 500 and Stoxx 50 indexes rose by 0.9 and 0.6 per cent respectively, while the US Ten-Year Treasury yield increased by over 3 basis points to nearly 1.05 per cent as investors reduced their holdings in safe-haven assets.
The US dollar index fell by 0.12 per cent to 90.54 points, causing market-sensitive currencies to rise. Meanwhile, alternative assets such as bitcoin jumped by 6.2 per cent to $32,912.
Poon noted that the market would continue monitoring global economic data and listed companies' performance as the financial market is likely to face high volatility due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the delay in Covid-19 vaccine delivery, together with uncertainty over the rollout of economic stimulus measures and the central bank's monetary policy easing.
He also mentioned that the dollar tended to strengthen amid a demand for safe-haven assets and market fluctuations.
