Baht weakens just before BOT monetary policy meet
The baht opened at 30.19 to the US dollar on Wednesday, weakening from 30.16 at close on Tuesday.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 30.10 and 30.30, said Jitipol Puksamatanan, senior director of the chief investment office at SCB Securities.
On Tuesday night, the US stock market decreased. The S&P 500 contracted by 0.5 per cent, while the Stoxx 600 was down by 0.2 per cent due to investor concern about the Covid-19 situation.
At the same time, the US financial market went into a “risk-off” state again after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Covid-19, for which a vaccine was nearing development, would not affect the economy in the long term. However, he added that employment would take a long time to recover to its normal level.
The US Ten-Year Treasury yield meanwhile decreased by 3.4 basis points to 0.87 per cent, and the dollar weakened by 0.1 per cent, compared to other main currencies.
In Thailand, the baht moved in a narrow range before the Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee was due to meet on Wednesday.
Observers believe the central bank will implement more relaxed monetary measures to stimulate the economy, but these policies may tend to weaken the baht, Jitipol said.
