International Partners has reported that Thailand’s SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) and its currency, the baht, have both slumped in the aftermath of a large bomb which was detonated at a popular shrine in Bangkok’s busy downtown district.

Thai stocks opened down 2.7% before recovering later in the session to stand 1.6% adrift on yesterday’s close while the Thai baht fell to 35.55 to the US dollar, its lowest since April 2009. The country has produced soft economic data pointing to a marked slowdown in its export sector and in domestic demand and spending. Household indebtedness is at levels that have raised concerns at the country’s central bank and outflows of foreign capital have impacted the bond and equity markets as investors repatriate capital in anticipation of US interest rate hikes.

“Investor sentiment towards Thailand was already pretty finely-balanced,” said Akiro Himata who leads Emerging Markets strategy at International Partners. “The overall slowdown in the region as a whole deserves some of the blame but highly-visible dithering on large infrastructure projects and the perennial hand-wringing over the draft constitution is exacerbating the situation and eroding confidence,” he explained.

No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack and both the military government and the police say they have insufficient evidence to substantiate any speculation at this time.

International Partners says it is neutral on Thailand but warns that the economy faces a number of headwinds. “The baht is weaker across the board so its goods will be cheaper in foreign markets but this bombing will undoubtedly damage tourism which accounts for a little under 10 percent of the economy,” concluded Himata.


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