Renewed Support Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the two-day slide in which it had dipped more than 8 points or 0.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,560-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but said more rate hikes were likely before the end of the year. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial, energy and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the industrial and food shares.

For the day, the index eased 1.25 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 1,561.15 after trading between 1,559.34 and 1,569.34. Volume was 12,742 billion shares worth 36.846 billion baht.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport slipped 0.35 percent, while Asset World advanced 0.95 percent, Banpu soared 2.30 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.87 percent, Bangkok Expressway slumped 1.75 percent, BTS Group climbed 1.32 percent, CP All Public improved 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.93 percent, Energy Absolute declined 1.18 percent, Gulf lost 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.52 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.44 percent, PTT Global Chemical jumped 1.95 percent, SCG Packaging rallied 1.89 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.30 percent, Thai Oil gained 0.54 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.61 percent and Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Advanced Info, True Corporation, B. Grimm, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed, tumbled after the Fed's policy statement but then rebounded to finish on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 232.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,979.33, while the NASDAQ added 53.16 points or 0.39 percent to close at 13,626.48 and the S&P 500 rose 3.58 points or 0.08 percent to end at 4,372.59.

The late-day volatility came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to pause its interest rate increases following 10 consecutive rate hikes but also forecast additional increases later this year.

However, the central bank's latest projections suggest the Fed plans to resume raising rates later this year, forecasting a rate of 5.6 percent by the end of 2023.

The forecast for additional rate hikes this year comes as the Fed raised its forecast for annual core consumer price growth to 3.9 percent from 3.6 percent.

Crude oil prices pared early gains and drifted lower Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a stronger greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July sank $1.15 or 1.7 percent at $68.27 a barrel.