Soft Start Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 35 points or 2.4 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,425-point plateau although it's due for consolidation on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on profit taking and weak retail earnings. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the food, finance, energy and technology shares were weighed down by losses from the energy, service and insurance companies.

For the day, the index picked up 4.17 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,423.61 after trading between 1,418.42 and 1,427.13. Volume was 10.70 million share worth 37/778 billion baht. There were 269 gainers and 171 decliners, with 209 stocks finishing unchanged,

Among the actives, Thailand Airport plunged 2.54 percent, while Bangkok Bank fell 0.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.94 percent, Bangkok Expressway slumped 1.23 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.93 percent, BTS Group lost 0.69 percent, CP All Public rose 0.45 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.06 percent, Energy Absolute skidded 1.04 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.08 percent, PTT Oil & Retail accelerated 1.01 percent, PTT perked 0.72 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical rallied 1.32 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 0.76 percent, Siam Concrete jumped 1.73 percent, Thai Oil gained 0.49 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging, Asset World, Advanced Info, Banpu and Gulf were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow dropped 62.75 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 35,088.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 84.55 points or 0.59 percent to end at 14,199.98 and the S&P 500 fell 9.19 points or 0.20 percent to close at 4,538.19.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which has lifted the major averages to their best levels in over three months.

A negative reaction to some of the latest earnings news from major retailers also weighed on Wall Street, with disappointing results from the likes of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Kohl's (KSS), Lowe's (LOW) and Best Buy (BBY).

The markets did not show much reaction to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which said Fed officials expect to keep interest rates at a restrictive level for "some time."

Crude oil futures settled slightly lower Tuesday ahead of this weekend's OPEC meeting as investors wait to see if more production cuts may be in store. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.06 at $77.77 a barrel.