Baht may not decline much, thanks to foreigners snapping up Thai stock: market strategist
The baht opened at 33.25 to the US dollar on Thursday, strengthening from Wednesday’s close of 33.31.
Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted the Thai currency would move between 33.15 and 33.40 during the day.
Poon said the baht was likely to swing in a wide range after strengthening suddenly on Wednesday due to a weakening dollar and the Monetary Policy Committee being of the opinion that the Thai economy is recovering, while its GDP growth projection did not decrease to a large extent.
However, the baht might be pressured to weaken due to uncertainty over Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, but Poon believes the Thai currency will not weaken much because foreigners are returning to invest in Thai stocks. They have already purchased 7 billion baht of short-term bonds in the past two days, which reflects a decrease in the baht's weakening.
Poon expects the support level to be 33.00-33.20 to the dollar, a level importers are waiting for to purchase the US currency.
The currency market meanwhile is closely watching whether upcoming Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations will be a success after reports that a battle was raging near Kyiv. Investors are also worried that the Thai economy will shrink after signs of an inverted yield curve in the US bond market.
