- USDTHB: moving in the range 35.73-35.785 this morning supportive level at 35.55 resistance level at 35.85
· SET Index: 1,362.6 (-0.35%), 4 Mar 2024
· S&P 500 Index: 5,131.0 (-0.12%), 4 Mar 2024
· Thai 10-year government bond yield (interpolated): 2.56 (-0.97 bps), 4 Mar 2024
· US 10-year treasury yield: 4.22 (+3.00 bps), 4 Mar 2024
- US manufacturing contracts further, rays of light on the horizon
- Euro zone Feb factory activity contracted for 20th month
- China new home prices rise at slower pace in February
- Dollar dips on weak data, yen hurt by cautious BOJ
Corporate junk debt defaults hit post-pandemic high in February Defaults among US corporate junk debt issuers reached a post-pandemic high in February, JPMorgan said in a new research report. Nine junk-rated borrowers either filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy or missed their interest payments on a total of $5.97 billion in loans and bonds last month. Three other companies opted for a distressed exchange on a total $3.96 billion in loans and bonds. February was only the second time in 11 months that the volume of defaults outweighed distressed exchanges. Since the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates in 2022, companies facing default have increasingly turned to out-of-court distressed exchanges.
Tokyo CPI inflation rebounds as expected in Feb, puts BOJ hike in focus Consumer price index inflation in Japan’s capital rebounded from 22-month lows in February, increasing the prospect of sticky inflation in the country and putting any potential rate hikes from the Bank of Japan squarely in focus. Tokyo core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, grew 2.5% year-on-year in February, data from the Statistics Bureau showed on Tuesday. The reading was in line with expectations and rebounded sharply from the 1.6% seen in January, which was its weakest reading in 22 months. Headline CPI inflation grew 2.6% year-on-year in February, also rebounding from the 1.6% seen in the prior month. Food prices continued to grow steadily and remained a key driver of inflation. A core reading that excludes both energy and fresh food and is used as a key indicator of underlying inflation by the BOJ, still fell to 3.1% from 3.3% in the prior month but remained well above the BOJ’s 2% annual target.
Japan's service activity grows in Feb on firm tourism Japan's service sector activity expanded in February, extending gains for one-and-a half years, a business survey showed on Tuesday, helped by solid demand in tourism and new product launches. The service sector has been a positive area for the economy, offsetting some of the weakness in manufacturing caused by subdued global demand. The final au Jibun Bank Service purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 52.9 in February from 53.1 in January. While the expansion eased slightly, the index has remained above the 50.0 threshold separating expansion from contraction since September 2022. While the service sector remained firm with respondents citing improved business conditions, especially for inbound tourism, the manufacturing output level weakened on soft demand.
Dollar eases vs euro as eventful week kicks off The 10-year government bond yield (interpolated) on the previous trading day was 2.56, -0.97 bps. The benchmark government bond yield (LB31DA) was 2.57, -1.50 bps. Meantime, the latest closed US 10-year bond yields was 4.22, +3.00 bps. USDTHB on the previous trading day closed around 35.81 Moving in a range of 35.76-35.785 this morning. USDTHB could be closed between 35.55-35.85 today. The dollar slipped against the euro on Monday, ahead of this week's news on Britain's budget, a European Central Bank meeting, US jobs data and important political moments in China and the US Investors also eyed Bitcoin, which rose to a more than two-year peak above $65,000 after a quiet weekend, pushed higher in recent weeks by big flows into cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, most notably in the United States. Bitcoin was last up 6.39% at $66,603. The euro rose 0.15% to $1.08565, while the dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, was down 0.03% at $103.83. The Japanese yen fluctuated around the closely watched 150-per-dollar level. The dollar was last up 0.28% at 150.555 yen. Most major currency pairs stuck close to recent trading ranges, as traders shied away from big directional bets ahead of this week's host of potentially market-moving events.
Sources : ttb analytics , Bloomberg, CNBC, Trading economics, Investing, CEIC
