FIF fund inflow down. The high volatility of the market and negative return led investors to sell off the Bt47bn of the global bond fund. In the first five months, the FIF fund inflow amounted to Bt6.bn1, down from last year’s Bt80bn in the same period. Behind this is high volatility in the foreign market and negative return. (Bangkok Biz News, 18/06/18)

Minister of Commerce complains about the Vietnam-Indo tariff. The Minister of Commerce plans to retaliate after Indonesia banned import of durian, longans and shallots. Vietnam also banned coconut from Thailand and has imposed tight regulations on the importation of cars. Last weekend, Thailand signed a FTA with Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh to expand trade opportunities. (Thai Post, 18/06/18)

Auto sales up 28% to 85,000 units in May. Auto sales jumped 27.9% year-on-year to 84,965 units in May and 7.3% from the previous month, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI. (Bangkok Post, 18/06/18)

Tourist arrivals slowed to 2.8m in May. Tourist arrival growth slowed in May, up 6.3% to 2.8 million, compared to 10% on average in previous months due to seasonal factors. (Bangkok Post, 18/06/18)

BoT holds at 1.5%, raises growth view. The Bank of Thailand’s rate-setting panel left the policy rate unchanged Wednesday as expected, giving more weight to domestic factors and declaring that the country’s external stability remains strong enough to cushion against persistent capital outflows. (Bangkok Post, 20/06/18)

Emerging Asia Hit by Biggest Foreign Investor Exodus Since 2008, falling tide lowers all boats, it seems. Amid an exodus from emerging markets, investors are pulling out of even Asian economies with solid prospects for growth and debt financing. Overseas funds are pulling out of six major Asian emerging equity markets at a pace unseen since the global financial crisis of 2008 — withdrawing $19 billion from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand so far this year (Bloomberg, 18/06/18)

Iran signals compromise for modest rise in OPEC oil output. Iran signaled on Wednesday it could compromise on a small increase in OPEC oil output when the group meets this week, as Saudi Arabia scrambled to convince fellow members of the need for a larger rise in production. (Reuters, 20/06/18)

Chinese investment in the US drops 90% amid political pressure. Chinese acquisitions and investments in the U.S. fell 92 percent to just $1.8 billion in the first five months of this year, consulting and research firm Rhodium Group says. Counting divestitures, net Chinese deal flow to the U.S. during that time was a negative $7.8 billion, the report says. Beijing is trying to limit capital outflows and excessive leverage, while the Trump administration is increasing scrutiny of Chinese investments in the U.S. amid concerns about intellectual property protection. (CNBC, 21/06/18)

Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.7 percent in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. The core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, compared with economists’ median estimate for a 0.7 percent annual gain. Stripping away the effect of fresh food and energy, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in May from a year ago. (Reuters, 22/06/18)

Trade Wars: India imposes retaliatory tariffs on U.S., widening global trade war. India joined the European Union and other U.S. trading partners in retaliating against the Trump administration’s tariff hikes on steel and aluminum Thursday by raising import duties on a variety of goods, including almonds, apples and some metal products. (The Washington Post, 21/06/18) Turkey Hits U.S. With Tariffs on $1.8 Billion of Goods. The Turkish government imposed tariffs of $266.5 million on $1.8 billion worth of U.S. goods Thursday in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s levies on steel and aluminum imports. (Bloomberg, 21/06/18) Beijing fires back in trade war with US. China fired back on Saturday in a spiraling trade dispute with US President Donald Trump by raising import duties on a $34-billion list of American goods including soybeans, electric cars and whiskey. (Bangkok Post, 16/06/18)