USD/THB Near Month To Date Highs, As FinMin warns on Baht Strength

USD/THB was already on the front foot in the first part of trade, but comments from the Finance Minister (reported by Reuters) that the strong baht is a risk to the economy have fueled further gains in the pair. We now sit at 33.68, down slightly from session highs just above 33.71. Still, this is around 0.65% weaker in baht terms for the session.

• This is around fresh highs in the pair for the month, while the 34.00 level was last seen in early Jan of this year.
• For the week, the baht is the second worst performer (-2.18%), behind the won at 2.80%. IDR has also taken over as the best performing EM Asia currency YTD.
• Thai equities are close to flat so far today, with the index around the 1669 level. Yesterday's dip to the 50-day MA at 1658 was supported.
• Offshore investors remain net sellers of local equities though, -$367mn week to date, with -$100.9mn yesterday.
• BoT FX reserve data, out later, will be eye for signs of increased BoT USD buying to curb baht outperformance. This data is for the week ending Feb 3.