Profit Taking Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, gathering more than 40 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,400-point plateau although it's overdue for consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, largely due to expectations of profit taking following recent gains. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial, industrial, energy and technology sectors.

For the day, the index added 5.47 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 1,400.37 after trading between 1,395.19 and 1,406.40. Volume was 11.543 billion shares worth 42.453 billion baht. There were 298 gainers and 166 decliners, with 180 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gathered 0.46 percent, Thailand Airport slumped 1.24 percent, Banpu surged 3.13 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical perked 0.97 percent, BTS Group was up 1.41 percent, CP All Public increased 1.38 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.54 percent, Energy Absolute strengthened 1.13 percent, Gulf improved 0.55 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.54 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.09 percent, PTT retreated 1.40 percent, PTT Global Chemical jumped 1.89 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.98 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.34 percent, Thai Oil rallied 2.35 percent, True Corporation skyrocketed 6.93 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.64 percent and SCG Packaging, Asset World, B. Grimm, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT Exploration and Production and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages hugged the line for most of Wednesday's session but turned sharply lower heading into the close.

The Dow plunged 475.92 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 37,082.00, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.28 points or 1.50 percent to close at 14,777.94 and the S&P 500 slumped 70.02 points or 1.47 percent to end at 4,698.36.

The late-day sell-off on Wall Street was largely attributed to profit taking, with traders cashing in on the strong upward move seen in recent sessions.

A steep drop by shares of FedEx (FDX) also weighed on the markets, with the delivery giant plunging by 12.1 percent after the company reported weaker than expected fiscal Q2 results and lowered its full-year revenue guidance.

In economic news, the Conference Board noted a much bigger than expected improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in December, while the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected rebound in U.S. existing home sales last month.

Oil prices climbed higher Wednesday on concerns about trade disruptions in the Middle East after attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $74.22 a barrel.