Thai Stock Market Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the eight-day losing streak in which it had plummeted almost 65 points or 4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,610-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on persistent concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index perked 1.62 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,614.22 after trading between 1,608.41 and 1,621.88. Volume was 15.933 billion shares worth 59.550 billion baht. There were 791 decliners and 652 gainers, with 508 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info strengthened 1.47 percent, while Thailand Airport fell 0.36 percent, Asset World slumped 0.85 percent, Banpu dropped 0.92 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.63 percent, Bangkok Expressway dove 0.55 percent, B. Grimm gained 0.67 percent, CP All Public improved 0.80 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.64 percent, Gulf spiked 1.98 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.58 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.34 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.95 percent, PTT declined 1.59 percent, PTT Exploration and Production retreated 1.32 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.52 percent, SCG Packaging was down 0.47 percent, Thai Oil increased 0.48 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.72 percent and Kasikornbank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Siam Commercial Bank, BTS Group and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and hugged the line before plummeting in afternoon trade, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 543.54 points or 1.66 percent to finish at 32,254.86, while the NASDAQ tumbled 237.65 points or 2.05 percent to close at 11,338.35 and the S&P 500 sank 73.69 points or 1.85 percent to end at 3,918.32.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street followed the Labor Department report the showed initial jobless claims rose by more than expected last week, although the data helped ease concerns about labor market tightness.

Buying interest tumbled as the day progressed as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's more closely watched monthly jobs report later today. The report could have a significant effect on the pace of interest rate hikes as determined by the FOMC.

Crude oil prices retreated on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight day amid concerns that aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve could slow global economic growth and result in a drop in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $0.94 or 1.2 percent at $75.72 a barrel.