Kaohoon Morning Brief – 31 August 2021
Morning brief of major stories since the closing of Thai stock market on 31 August 2021.
1) Eurozone economic sentiment in August fell
Eurozone economic sentiment in August dropped from a record high of 119.0 in July as optimism slowed down in all major sectors. France showed a sharpest decline, followed by Netherland, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile, inflation expectations rose from 30.0 in July to 31.1 in August.
2) Oil prices closed slightly higher as Hurricane Ida weakened
Crude oil prices closed slightly higher on Monday as Hurricane Ida weakened after coming ashore in Louisiana. All eyes are focusing on the OPEC+ meeting, scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Analysts expect the group to continue easing production cuts by another 400,000 barrels per day.
3) 2.6 million Moderna’s shots suspended in Japan
More than 2.6 million shots of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in Japan were suspended due to contamination. Two people died after the jabs. Japan’s health ministry believed the contamination could be due to wrong needle extraction.
4) EU to reinstate travel restrictions on U.S. visitors
The European Union recommended members of the bloc to reinstate travel restrictions on U.S. visitors that were recently lifted in June due to a surge in Covid-19 cases stateside, caused by the Delta variant.