Oversold Thai Stock Market Nonetheless Called Lower On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, slipping almost 45 points or 3.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,360-point plateau and it's likely to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests further consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The SET finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 3.33 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,359.26 after trading between 1,350.98 and 1,362.46. Volume was 18.730 billion shares worth 39.748 billion baht. There were 291 decliners and 192 gainers, with 176 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.96 percent, while Thailand Airport slumped 0.77 percent, Banpu and Siam Concrete both tanked 1.85 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.35 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.80 percent, Bangkok Expressway rallied 1.86 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.95 percent, BTS Group stumbled 1.78 percent, CP All Public improved 0.89 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.56 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.73 percent, Gulf climbed 1.19 percent, Kasikornbank slid 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.23 percent, Krung Thai Card tumbled 1.70 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 1.66 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slipped 0.66 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.44 percent, True Corporation surged 3,57 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.07 percent and PTT Global Chemical, SCG Packaging, Asset World, PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained deep in the red throughout the session, ending near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 404.64 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 38,585.19, while the NASDAQ tumbled 267.92 points or 1.65 percent to close at 15,939.59 and the S&P 500 sank 52.30 points or 1.02 percent to end at 5,078.65.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ to record closing highs last week.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He's due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee later today and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. service sector growth slowed more than expected in February. Also, The Commerce Department noted a drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in January.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, falling for the second consecutive session on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.59 at $78.15 a barrel.