Thai Stock Market May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Tuesday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,520-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on concerns about economic outlook and expectations for interest rates. The Eruopean and U.S. markets were solidly lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology, food, finance, energy and industrial sectors.

For the day, the index dropped 14.43 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 1,520.73 after trading between 1,517.34 and 1,535.97. Volume was 11.858 billion shares worth 48.606 billion baht. There were 344 decliners and 152 gainers, with 145 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport slid 0.70 percent, while Banpu stumbled 1.07 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.15 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical fell 2.61 percent, Bangkok Expressway dipped 1.12 percent, B. Grimm weakened 1.36 percent, BTS Group was down 0.69 percent, CP All Public advanced 0.81 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tanked 2.50 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 2.55 percent, Gulf retreated 1.55 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.78 percent, Krung Thai Bank slumped 1.00 percent, Krung Thai Card surrendered 2.12 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 1.46 percent, PTT gained 0.70 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gave up 2.71 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.90 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 3.85 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 0.95 percent, Thai Oil lost 1.39 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.57 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, Asset World, Advanced Info and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 361.24 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 34,946.39, while the NASDAQ slumped 157.28 points or 1.14 percent to close at 13,631.05 and the S&P 500 sank 51.86 points or 1.16 percent to end at 4,437.86.

Worries about the health of the Chinese economy, and concerns that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for a longer time to contain inflation weigh on sentiment.

A warning from Fitch that it may have to downgrade credit ratings of several banks, including JP Morgan, is hurting as well.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a batch of weak economic data from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $1.52 or 1.8 percent at $80.99 a barrel.