Thai Stock Market Poised To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 30 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,540-point plateau and it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes the Republican-manufactured U.S. debt ceiling situation can soon be resolved. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The SET finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the food, property, technology and energy sectors, while the financials were mixed.

For the day, the index retreated 19.97 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 1,541.38 after trading between 1,536.82 and 1,570.62. Volume was 18.094 billion shares worth 68.385 billion baht. There were 390 decliners and 116 gainers, with 125 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info plummeted 4.52 percent, while Bangkok Dusit Medical shed 0.84 percent, Bangkok Expressway stumbled 3.89 percent, B. Grimm crashed 6.33 percent, BTS Group retreated 1.95 percent, CP All Public surrendered 2.63 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.99 percent, Energy Absolute lost 0.74 percent, Gulf cratered 8.57 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.11 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.35 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 2.16 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skidded 1.0 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete sank 0.89 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.06 percent, True Corporation plunged 7.84 percent and TTB Bank, Bangkok Bank, SCG Packaging, Asset World, Thailand Airport, Banpu and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened lower on Monday, stagnated for a bit and then finally crept up into positive territory.

The Dow added 47.98 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 33,348.60, while the NASDAQ jumped 80.47 points or 0.66 percent to close at 12,365.21 and the S&P 500 rose 12.20 points or 0.30 percent to end at 4,136.28.

The higher close on Wall Street may partly have reflected optimism about an eventual agreement on raising the U.S. debt following comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Yellen said the administration and congressional Republicans are making progress in their negotiations over federal spending and raising the debt limit.

In economic news, the New York Fed released a report this morning showing a strong downturn in regional manufacturing activity in May.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Monday, riding on prospects of lower supplies in Canada and elsewhere, while a weaker dollar also contributed to oil's uptick. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June gained $1.07 or 1.5 percent at $71.11 a barrel after three days of losses.