Thai Stock Market Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,590-point plateau although it may head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on rising treasury yields and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed performance from the energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 4.01 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,592.73 after trading between 1,579.78 and 1,595.57. Volume was 19.577 billion shares worth 66.429 billion baht. There were 963 gainers and 702 decliners, with 563 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info jumped 1.89 percent, while Thailand Airport climbed 1.39 percent, Asset World soared 2.61 percent, Banpu rallied 2.42 percent, Bangkok Bank accelerated 1.78 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical gained 1.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 2.23 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.77 percent, BTS Group shed 0.61 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.54 percent, IRPC increased 1.31 percent, Kasikornbank rose 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card gathered 0.44 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.98 percent, PTT perked 1.46 percent, PTT Exploration and Production spiked 1.78 percent, PTT Global Chemical skidded 1.19 percent, SCG Packaging was up 0.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gained 0.94 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.31 percent, Thai Oil improved 0.48 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.97 percent, TTB Bank surged 3.23 percent and CP All Public, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Gulf were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to hold early gains, heading south by midday and finishing at daily lows.

The Dow slumped 90.22 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 30,333.59, while the NASDAQ shed 65.66 points or 0.61 percent to end at 10,614.84 and the S&P 500 lost 29.38 points or 0.80 percent to close at 3,665.78.

Stocks initially benefited from another batch of upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like IBM Corp. (IBM) and AT&T (T).

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, with a continued surge in treasury yields contributing to the subsequent pullback by the markets. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note extended recent gains, reaching its highest levels in over fourteen years.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continue to drive yields higher, with Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker saying that he expects the Fed to continue raising rates "for a while."

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in early November, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75 to 4.0 percent.

Crude oil futures for November delivery settled higher on their expiration day as traders weighed energy demand and supply positions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.43 or 0.5 percent at $85.98 a barrel on the expiration day. But WTI Crude oil futures for December eased to $84.51 a barrel.