BANGKOK, 16 May 2011 – Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch) has expected that the Thai baht this week will move around 30.00-30.30 baht per US dollar this week while domestic politics and national export data for April must be monitored.
KResearch reported that the Thai onshore baht had been appreciating from the beginning to the mid of last week thanks to purchases of Thai stocks by foreign investors. Meanwhile, most Asian currencies also appreciated following the Chinese yuan and regional stock markets.
The Thai baht however depreciated sharply later in the week as investors were selling risk assets following rumours on the Greek public debt crisis. The Thai baht rebounded to close the week (on 13 May) at 30.19 baht per US dollar compared with 30.22 baht per dollar on 6 May.
As for this week from 16 to 20 May 2011, the baht is projected to move in the range of 30.00-30.30 baht per US dollar. Domestic factors that must be monitored are the political situation, export figures for April 2011 and intervention of the Bank of Thailand on risk assets.
External factors that should be monitored are mostly the US economic data such as the housing index, US central bank survey on manufacturing sector, economic indicators, and industrial output.
