Thai Stock Market May See Continued Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen just a single point. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and it's predicted to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of key inflation data and on U.S. political uncertainty. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, electronics and energy producers.

For the day, the index shed 10.16 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 1,622.45 after trading between 1,619.69 and 1,635.37. Volume was 19.965 billion shares worth 61.221 billion baht. There were 1,339 decliners and 426 gainers, with 437 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.27 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.67 percent, Asset World tanked 2.50 percent, Banpu tumbled 2.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.83 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.53 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.45 percent, BTS Group shed 0.60 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.27 percent, Gulf declined 1.44 percent, IRPC plunged 4.94 percent, Kasikornbank lost 0.67 percent, KCE Electronics plummeted 5.26 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.12 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.41 percent, PTT weakened 1.41 percent, PTT Exploration and Production increased 0.52 percent, PTT Global Chemical surrendered 2.59 percent, SCG Packaging fell 0.45 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.94 percent, Siam Concrete slumped 1.74 percent, Thai Oil sank 1.31 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Bangkok Bank, CP All Public, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Krung Thai Card were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened modestly lower on Wednesday but saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 646.89 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 32,513.94, while the NASDAQ plunged 263.03 points or 2.48 percent to close at 10,353.17 and the S&P 500 sank 79.54 points or 2.08 percent to end at 3,748.57.

The sharply pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on recent strength in the markets amid lingering uncertainty about the results of the U.S. midterm elections as control of both houses of Congress remains unclear.

Traders may also be moving money out of stocks ahead today's highly anticipated report on consumer price inflation, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices tumbled Wednesday, weighed down by a jump in crude stockpiles, concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.08 or 3.5 percent at $85.83 a barrel, falling for the third consecutive session.