Baht strengthens a smidgen

The Thai currency is expected to move between 30.80 and 31 today, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, head of Markets Strategy at SCB Securities.
On Monday night, the S&P 500 increased by 1.5 per cent, while the Euro Stoxx 600 recovered by 0.4 per cent. However, the US Ten-Year Treasury yield decreased to 0.62 per cent due to investors’ concern that Covid-19 is spreading across the United States.
Meanwhile, some investors have decided to park their money in safe haven currencies, strengthening the dollar by 0.2 per cent and weakening the yen by 0.5 per cent, Jitipol said.
The WTI oil price recovered by 3.1 per cent, while the price of gold has reached the highest level yet. Also, copper last night recovered to its highest rate this year.
“In the short term, this situation will support those currencies in the emerging market and others that move in line with commodities,” he said.
In Thailand, the baht would move in a narrow range due to the capital market that is in a “risk off” state and the gold price, which is at the highest level so far, Jitipol said.
The market will also keep a close watch on the candidates running for the post of Bank of Thailand governor, he added.