Thai Bourse Poised To Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, slipping more than 50 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,590-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is brutal on growing fears of a recession and rising interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the energy producers were offset by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index fell 6.86 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,592.37 after trading between 1,589.79 and 1,617.23. Volume was 23.193 billion shares worth 78.853 billion baht. There were 1,230 decliners and 517 gainer, with 514 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.01 percent, while Asset World advanced 0.87 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.47 percent, Bangkok Expressway shed 0.54 percent, B. Grimm tanked 2.86 percent, CP All Public dropped 0.88 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods improved 0.81 percent, Energy Absolute lost 0.56 percent, Gulf sank 0.95 percent, Kasikornbank gained 0.70 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.60 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.29 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 0.96 percent, PTT tumbled 2.14 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.62 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 1.20 percent, SCG Packaging slid 0.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank climbed 0.97 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.31 percent, Thai Oil strengthened 1.47 percent, True Corporation increased 0.81 percent and TTB Bank, Thailand Airport, Banpu, Bangkok Dusit Medical, BTS Group and IRPC were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deeply in the red, although they closed off of sessions lows.

The Dow tumbled 458.13 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 29,225.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 314.13 points or 2.84 percent to close at 10,737.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 78.57 points or 2.11 percent to end at 3,640.47.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains, as the buying interest generated by the Bank of England's bond market intervention quickly evaporated. The moves by the BoE contributed to a pullback by bond yields and the U.S. dollar, inspiring traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels. But bond yields moved back to the upside, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note partly offsetting Wednesday's 25.9 basis point plunge.

A Labor Department report showing first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to a five-month low last week also weighed on the markets. While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, traders may view the data as giving the Federal Reserve confidence that it can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.

Adding to the negative sentiment on Wall Street, data from Freddie Mac showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.70 percent in the week ending September 29th, up from 6.29 percent the week before.

Crude oil prices fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Thursday before closing lower on concerns about the outlook for energy demand amidst a possible global recession. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid $0.92 or 1.1 percent to $81.23 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release August data for current account, retail sales and its coincident index later today. In July, the current account deficit was $4.1 billion, retail sales climbed an annual 12.1 percent and the coincident index score was 128.65.