Thai Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,660-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index advanced 10.90 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 1,658.29. Volume was 15.889 billion shares worth 63.742 billion baht. There were 822 gainers and 722 decliners, with 489 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.96 percent, while Thailand Airport fell 0.34 percent, Banpu advanced 0.91 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.91 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.71 percent, Bangkok Expressway shed 0.53 percent, B. Grimm tanked 2.40 percent, CP All Public rose 0.38 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 3.76 percent, Gulf lost 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.41 percent, Krung Thai Bank slumped 1.17 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 1.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production strengthened 1.59 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dipped 0.25 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.59 percent, True Corporation rallied 2.00 percent and TTB Bank, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT, Thai Oil, PTT Global Chemical and SCG Packaging were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday, pared the losses midday but then slumped again to finish near session lows.

The Dow plunged 431.20 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 33,696.85, while the NASDAQ tumbled 214.76 points or 1.78 percent to close at 11,855.83 and the S&P 500 dropped 57.19 points or 1.38 percent to end at 4,090.41.

The steep drop on Wall Street followed the Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase in producer prices, leading to renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

A separate Labor Department report showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower last week.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight session on recent data showing a surge in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $0.10 at $78.49 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product later today. GDP is expected to rise 0.50 percent on quarter and 3.50 percent on year, slowing from 1.20 percent on quarter and 4.50 percent on year in the three months prior.