Bangkok, The baht touched a four-and-a-half-month high of 35.62 baht to the dollar before closing at 35.64 baht to the dollar, compared to yesterday's close of 35.99 baht to the dollar. Ms. Kanchana Chokpaisansin, Research Director, Kasikorn Research Center, said that the baht strengthened in line with the yen, which was supported by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) meeting, which raised interest rates and announced a plan to gradually reduce government bond purchases. In addition, there was additional support from the increase in the price of gold in the world market and the direction of foreign investor fund flows, which today net bought Thai bonds and stocks at 1,886 million baht and 301.04 million baht, respectively. However, the dollar did not receive much support because the market was still closely following the results of the Fed meeting. For the baht's movement framework tomorrow, the initial assessment is 35.50-35.90 baht per dollar, while important factors to monitor include the market's response to the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting results, foreign capital direction, the Bank of England meeting results, the Eurozone and US manufacturing PMI data for July, and the US weekly jobless claims data. The BOJ raised its key interest rate to 0.25 percent from 0-0.1 percent and cut its monthly purchases of Japanese government bonds to 3 trillion yen ($20 billion) by the end of 2026 from 6 trillion yen, marking another step in the end of a decade of massive monetary easing. Foreign news agencies reported that Mr. Kazuo Ueda, BOJ Governor, stated that even though interest rates have been raised, real interest rates are still low. Therefore, it will not have a significant impact on the economy. If the economy and inflation move in line with expectations, the BOJ will continue to raise interest rates. Mr. Ueda said that although the increase in inflation may affect consumption, consumption remains strong. Wage data showed that wages were rising and were becoming more widespread, supporting consumption and inflation . This cycle of moderately rising wages and inflation is expected to continue. In addition, the depreciation of the yen has also led to higher import prices, so caution is needed regarding the risk of inflation exceeding the target. Source: Thai News Agency