Baht weakens on concerns about economy, Covid-19 crisis

The Thai currency is likely to move between 30 and 30.20 on Monday and 29.90 and 30.30 this week, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, the head of the “Easy Invest” team at SCB Securities.

He explained that the baht last week had been weaker than other Asian currencies, due to investors’ concerns about the Thai economy and the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Meanwhile, more bonds were sold, and some foreign investors purchased Thai stocks. However, their purchases would not strengthen the baht, he said, adding that investors now see the US market as more interesting than Asia.

The team leader suggested that investors should mainly monitor the direction of stocks. He said that capital would possibly move to Asian markets again, in case the US market fluctuates or the dollar weakens.

He forecast that this week the market will focus on US political issues, as well as the manufacture and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Jitipol also predicted that the US government would pump another $750 billion into the market to stimulate its economy in this quarter. Besides, he added that some observers had forecast that the US would increase its key interest rate.

In the financial market, the dollar strengthened by 0.4 per cent, compared to other main currencies, as investors had been more careful after the US political situation became volatile again. At the same time, the US Ten-Year Treasury reached 1.12 per cent.