Rally May Stall For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, rallying more than 35 points or 2.5 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,410-point plateau although it's expected to run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on rising concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the food, finance, industry and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 7.06 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 1,408.17 after trading between 1,402.89 and 1,411.46. Volume was 11.767 billion shares worth 44.404 billion baht. There were 366 gainers and 119 decliners, with 179 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.45 percent, while Thailand Airport was up 0.37 percent, Asset World increased 0.44 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.06 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway soared 1.22 percent, B. Grimm jumped 1.79 percent, CP All Public spiked 1.78 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.64 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 1.42 percent, Gulf lost 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.60 percent, Krung Thai Card gained 0.54 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.54 percent, PTT perked 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production shed 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.62 percent, SCG Packaging surged 4.80 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 0.39 percent, Thai Oil retreated 1.69 percent, True Corporation tumbled 1.83 percent and TTB Bank, Banpu and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 422.16 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 38,461.51, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.28 points or 0.84 percent to close at 16,170.36 and the S&P 500 sank 49.27 points or 0.95 percent to end at 5,160.64.

The early sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices advanced by slightly more than expected in March, also causing a surge in treasury yields.

The data added to recent worries the Federal Reserve will hold off on lowering interest rates amid ongoing inflation concerns. Fed officials have repeatedly said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

The minutes of the central bank's latest monetary policy meeting, released later in the day, revealed Fed officials were already not convinced inflation is moving sustainably down to 2 percent after January and February readings on core and headline inflation had been firmer than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday on rising geopolitical tensions amid reports of a likely strike by Iran against Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.98 at $86.21 a barrel.