Bangkok, The baht opened this morning at 36.01 baht/dollar, appreciating. Krungthai GLOBAL MARKETS expects the baht to move between 35.85-36.15 baht/dollar today, with limited appreciation. Investors are waiting to assess the monetary policy outlook of the BOE - Fed - and the earnings reports of listed companies. Mr. Poon Panichpiboon, Krungthai GLOBAL MARKETS, Krungthai Bank, revealed that the baht opened this morning at 36.01 baht per dollar, 'appreciating' from the previous day's closing level of 36.11 baht per US dollar. Since last night, although the baht has strengthened overall, it has been quite volatile (fluctuating between 36.00-36.19 baht per dollar) with a rapid depreciation following the appreciation of the US dollar, which came with an adjustment in the US 10-year bond yield following the US retail sales report that came out better than expected. As a result, market players initially adjusted their expectations for the Fed's three interest rate cuts this year down somewhat. However, the dollar did not strengthen for long and began to face profit-taking, following the risk-on position of the US stock market, which was supported by both better-than-expected US economic data reports and bright earnings reports from most listed companies. And the view of market players who still believe that the Fed has about a 63% chance of cutting interest rates about 3 times this year, the decline in both the dollar and the US 10-year bond yield has supported the price of gold (XAUUSD) to continue to rise to the zone of $2,460-2,470 per ounce, giving market players an opportunity to gradually sell gold for profit, and the said transaction flow has also helped the baht to turn around and strengthen continuously to test the important support zone of 36.00 baht per dollar. Today, market players are expected to await the Bank of England's (BOE) monetary policy outlook through the June CPI and PPI inflation reports, the Fed's monetary policy outlook through statements by Fed officials, and corporate earnings reports. F or the trend of the baht, the baht's continued appreciation to the point of testing the support zone of 36.00 baht per dollar last night was beyond expectations, but the appreciation is still limited until the market recognizes new additional factors. It is estimated that the next support level of the baht may be in the zone of 35.85 baht per dollar if the baht can clearly appreciate and break through the zone of 36 baht per dollar. During the day, the baht may face some pressure from the flow of transactions to purchase commodities such as crude oil, including the flow of transactions to buy Japanese yen (JPYTHB) after the yen has weakened significantly against the baht again. In addition, foreign investors may still be able to gradually sell more Thai assets until the Thai capital market restores investor confidence, which may require waiting for the performance of most listed companies to be clearly better than expected. Krungthai GLOBAL MARKETS sees that the baht still has the opportunity to move volatil ity according to factors that affect the direction of the baht, such as market players' views on the Fed's interest rate trend. Therefore, market players should use a wider range of risk-hedging strategies, including using tools such as Options or local currencies, which will help increase the efficiency of hedging exchange rate risks. The baht's range today is expected to be at 35.85-36.15 baht/US dollar. Source: Thai News Agency