Thai Shares Figure To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,680-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with earnings news likely to guide investors. The European and U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index dipped 3.82 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 1,681.04 after trading between 1,679.20 and 1,688.56. Volume was 14.220 billion shares worth 54.484 billion baht. There were 959 decliners and 537 gainers, with 536 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.50 percent, while Asset World plunged 3.25 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.59 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.83 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.53 percent, B. Grimm fell 0.61 percent, CP All Public strengthened 1.48 percent, Energy Absolute dipped 0.28 percent, Gulf slid 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.29 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.12 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slipped 0.42 percent, PTT dropped 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production eased 0.29 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.49 percent, SCG Packaging was down 0.45 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slumped 1.34 percent, Siam Concrete jumped 1.41 percent, Thai Oil advanced 0.89 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Thailand Airport, Banpu, BTS Group, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Krung Thai Card were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, saw a mild recovery but only the NASDAQ managed to end in the green.

The Dow tumbled 391.76 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 33,910.85, while the NASDAQ rose 15.96 points or 0.14 percent to end at 11,095.11 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.12 points or 0.20 percent to close at 3,990.97.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength.

A steep drop by Goldman Sachs (GS) weighed on the Dow after the company reported earnings that missed estimates. Travelers (TRV) also missed, while Morgan Stanley (MS) beat the street.

In economic news, the New York Federal Reserve noted a significant contraction in regional manufacturing activity in January.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday on expectations of a jump in demand following better than expected Chinese GDP data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $80.18 a barrel, the highest settlement since December 30.