Baht Touches 11-Week High As Us Jobs Data Boosts Risk-Taking

[webfact]

Baht Touches 11-Week High As U.S. Jobs Data Boosts Risk-Taking

By Yumi Teso

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's baht touched an 11-week high as better-than-expected U.S. payroll data encouraged risk- taking. Government bonds advanced.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) of shares climbed the most in more than a week after a Labor Department report on Aug. 3 showed U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs last month, more than the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey for 100,000 positions. Global funds bought $84 million more local equities and $983 million more Thai government debt than they sold last week, according to data from the stock exchange and the Thai Bond Market Association.

“An equity rally and the improving risk sentiment are boosting the baht and other regional currencies,” said Disawat Tiaowvanich, a foreign-exchange trader at Bangkok Bank Pcl. [more...]

Source: http://www.bloomberg...isk-taking.html

-- Bloomberg 2012-08-06

[wpcoe]

So, good economic news for the US means the US currency weakens? I really need to dust off my old Economics 101 text book.

[Naam]

So, good economic news for the US means the US currency weakens? I really need to dust off my old Economics 101 text book.

throw your old econ textbook in the garbage bin. when it was written (half a century ago?) the expression "flight to quality" did not exist.

[HereIAm]

So, good economic news for the US means the US currency weakens? I really need to dust off my old Economics 101 text book.

throw your old econ textbook in the garbage bin. when it was written (half a century ago?) the expression "flight to quality" did not exist.

Actually the report said, good payroll data in the US encouraged risk taking. With so many US expats living in Thailand and so much foreign investment here, besides one of the world's highest tourist figures, it's easy to see why good economic news in any major country will benefit Thailand :-)

[tomjoad56]

IMO, price movements can't always be linked to daily news, but I think the theory here is that better US jobs numbers means more buyers for Thailand's goods (the Thai economy being export oriented).

[gamini]

This report does not make sense. I was quoted Bt 33.05 for my A$. The highest ever!!

[Hugh Jarse]

This report does not make sense. I was quoted Bt 33.05 for my A$. The highest ever!!

So why today I was offered only 48.8 for my £stg?

[DonaldBattles]

The overall Thai economy remains strong. Investors with hot money tend to send it here for short periods of time. I believe that this is a major factor in the strength of the Baht. The issue of the government selling big stocks of rice that is getting old may have an impact. Selling the rice on the international market at the price they want will be difficult. It seems that the financial position of the government may not be as strong as the economy.

[davejones]

So, good economic news for the US means the US currency weakens? I really need to dust off my old Economics 101 text book.

The world is a little more complex than an Economics 101 text book.

[Naam]

This report does not make sense. I was quoted Bt 33.05 for my A$. The highest ever!!

these reports always focus on the exchange rate USD THB.

[Naam]

This report does not make sense. I was quoted Bt 33.05 for my A$. The highest ever!!

So why today I was offered only 48.8 for my £stg?

because AUD and not GBP appreciated vs. THB.

[marquis22]

This report does not make sense. I was quoted Bt 33.05 for my A$. The highest ever!!

Because the AUD has risen from 1.00 to 1.05 against the USD in that time, also slightly higher against the THB as you have noticed.