Thai Stock Market May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,410-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on continuing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index shed 8.91 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 1,408.30 after trading between 1,406.72 and 1,420.03. Volume was 11.487 billion shares worth 39.384 billion baht. There were 336 decliners and 153 gainers, with 155 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slid 0.45 percent, while Asset World skidded 1.11 percent, Banpu surrendered 1.31 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.63 percent, B. Grimm plummeted 4.60 percent, CP All Public sank 0.89 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.57 percent, Energy Absolute dropped 1.65 percent, Gulf dipped 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.54 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tumbled 1.59 percent, PTT Exploration and Production eased 0.31 percent, PTT Global Chemical slumped 1.33 percent, SCG Packaging weakened 1.34 percent, Siam Commercial Bank declined 1.50 percent, Thai Oil tanked 2.05 percent, True Corporation plunged 2.42 percent, TTB Bank stumbled 1.22 percent and Siam Concrete, PTT, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Thailand Airport, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness to quickly move higher and finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 56.74 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 34,152.74, while the NASDAQ jumped 121.08 points or 0.90 percent to end at 13,639.86 and the S&P 500 rose 12.40 points or 0.28 percent to close at 4,378.38.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street as traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. But selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, with continued optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributing to the rebound.

The rebound by stocks also came as treasury yields showed a notable move back to the downside after surging in the previous session.

Traders also looked ahead to speeches by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later today and Thursday. Powell is due to deliver opening remarks at the Division of Research and Statistics Centennial Conference and participate in a policy panel discussions.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as concerns about the outlook for fuel demand offset recent decisions by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $3.45 or 4.3 percent at $77.37 a barrel.