Post by mangomoney on Apr 7, 2016 14:45:36 GMT 7
SET index falls on lending rate cuts
Published: 6/04/2016 at 04:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
A commercial bank cutting spree in prime lending rates triggered a sell-off in banking blue chips yesterday, pushing the SET index down 1.9%. Investors, meanwhile, were left fretting over the narrowed net interest margins (NIMs).
Four banks -- Bangkok Bank (BBL), Kasikornbank (KBank), Krungthai Bank (KTB) and TMB Bank -- yesterday followed in the footsteps of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) by making even deeper cuts to their prime lending rates.
SCB late Monday stunned the market by trimming its minimum lending rate (MLR) by 0.15 percentage points to 6.375%, effective yesterday. The move came despite the fact that the Bank of Thailand's rate-setting committee stood pat on its policy rate of 1.5% at its March meeting.
TMB Bank for its part appeared to be the most generous by slashing both its MLR and minimum retail rate (MRR) by a quarter percentage point, effective from Thursday. The bank's new MLR will drop to 6.775% from 7.025% and its MRR will fall to 7.775% from 8.025%.
more...
www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/922849/set-index
Published: 6/04/2016 at 04:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
A commercial bank cutting spree in prime lending rates triggered a sell-off in banking blue chips yesterday, pushing the SET index down 1.9%. Investors, meanwhile, were left fretting over the narrowed net interest margins (NIMs).
Four banks -- Bangkok Bank (BBL), Kasikornbank (KBank), Krungthai Bank (KTB) and TMB Bank -- yesterday followed in the footsteps of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) by making even deeper cuts to their prime lending rates.
SCB late Monday stunned the market by trimming its minimum lending rate (MLR) by 0.15 percentage points to 6.375%, effective yesterday. The move came despite the fact that the Bank of Thailand's rate-setting committee stood pat on its policy rate of 1.5% at its March meeting.
TMB Bank for its part appeared to be the most generous by slashing both its MLR and minimum retail rate (MRR) by a quarter percentage point, effective from Thursday. The bank's new MLR will drop to 6.775% from 7.025% and its MRR will fall to 7.775% from 8.025%.
more...
www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/922849/set-index
