Thai Shares May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has tracked lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,355-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is erratic and seemingly at the mercy of quarterly earnings, which have varied greatly so far this earnings season. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index dropped 13.38 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 1,356.54 after trading between 1,352.48 and 1,375.76. Volume was 17.180 billion shares worth 48.669 billion baht. There were 420 decliners and 85 gainers, with 148 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info lost 0.46 percent, while Thailand Airport dipped 1.25 percent, Asset World plummeted 3.65 percent, Banpu slumped 0.78 percent, Bangkok Bank rose 0.35 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slid 0.91 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 1.34 percent, B. Grimm tumbled 1.92 percent, BTS Group eased 2.21 percent, CP All Public weakened 1.43 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plunged 3.39 percent, Energy Absolute surrendered 2.65 percent, Gulf declined 1.69 percent, Kasikornbank added 0.41 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.62 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.16 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.73 percent, SCG Packaging tanked 2.36 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.95 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.48 percent, True Corporation rallied 2.80 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.56 percent and PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and closed the same way.

The Dow sank 96.36 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,905.45, while the NASDAQ added 65.66 points or 0.43 percent to close at 15,425.94 and the S&P 500 rose 14.17 points or 0.29 percent to end at a fresh record of 4,864.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected a mixed reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies.

The Dow pulled back off Monday's record closing high amid a steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM), which offered disappointing guidance. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) also slumped despite reporting better than expected results.

Meanwhile, shares of telecom giant Verizon (VZ) and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) surged after reporting better than expected earnings news.

Crude oil futures eased Tuesday amid uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand and after Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield, which was shut for two weeks due to protests. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $74.37 a barrel.