The Thai bourse plunged yesterday, in line with global stock and cryptocurrency markets, as investors worried the Federal Reserve may implement more aggressive rate hikes to tackle runaway inflation.
The US consumer price index (CPI) increased 8.3% from a year ago in April, exceeding analysts' estimates for an 8.1% gain, while the US core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 6.2%, also exceeding forecasts of 6.0%.
Sharp rises in consumer prices led investors to believe the Fed might move forward with faster and higher rate hikes, from 0.5 to 0.75 percentage points, at its next meeting in June.
