BOT still has concern over household debt which will be able to drag consumption. It says the government should progress investment so the private parties can follow. It also has a positive outlook towards traveling in secondary provinces. (Thai Post, 30/12/17)
5,007 factories apply to set up factories (Ror Ngor 4) in 2017, -4.66%YoY but investment value was around Bt493bn, +2.28%YoY. (Khao Sod, 30/12/17)
December consumer confidence rises for fifth straight month. Thailand’s consumer confidence rose for a fifth straight month in December, lifted by a brighter economic outlook but low commodity prices were still a worry, a private survey showed on Thursday. The index of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce rose to 79.2 in December from 78.0 in November. Consumers were confident about future economic recovery on growth in exports and tourism, the university said in a statement. (Bangkok Post, 5/1/18)
US: December PMI signals strongest manufacturing growth since Mar. 2015 – Markit. “The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit final US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 55.1 in December, up from 53.9 in November,” IHS Markit announced on Tuesday. (FX Street, 3/1/18)
A major Chinese economic indicator hit a four-month high for December. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for December came in at 51.5. Economists polled by Reuters expected the private Caixin/Markit PMI to come in at 50.6 in December versus 50.8 in November. (CNBC, 29/12/17)
China December official services PMI edges up to 55. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55 from 54.8 in November. China’s leaders are counting on growth in services and consumption to rebalance their economic growth model from its heavy reliance on investment and exports. (Reuters, 29/12/17)
Most Fed Officials Backed Continued Gradual Rate Increases. Federal Reserve officials in December debated the risks to the U.S. economic outlook, with some concerned about low inflation and others pointing to robust growth that was about to get a further boost from tax cuts. Most participants reiterated support for “continuing a gradual approach to raising the target range” for the benchmark policy rate, according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Dec. 12-13 meeting released Wednesday in Washington. U.S. central bankers raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and penciled in three more hikes for 2018, according to the median estimate. (Bloomberg, 4/1/18)
US private sector added 250,000 jobs in Dec, vs estimate of 190,000: ADP. Companies hired 250,000 new workers to close out the year, well above Wall Street expectations of 190,000. The month was the best for job creation since March and topped the 185,000 in November, a number that was revised lower by 5,000. (CNBC, 5/1/18)
U.S. oil stocks down, fuel inventories up sharply. Crude inventories fell by 7.4 million barrels in the week to Dec. 29, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 5.1 million barrels. Refinery activity hit its highest utilization rate since 2005 as refiners kept processing heavy volumes of crude into products, and due in part to year-end tax concerns, analysts said. Crude runs rose by 210,000 barrels per day, EIA data showed. Refinery utilization rates rose by 1 percentage points to 96.7 percent. (Reuters, 5/1/18)
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Inch Up To 250,000. With the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 30th. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 250,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 247,000. The increase surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to drop to 240,000 from the 245,000 originally reported for the previous week. (Nasdaq, 4/1/18)
