Thai Stock Market Has Flat Lead For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,430-point plateau and it's likely to be rangebound again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial, food, service and technology sectors, while the energy shares were soft.

For the day, the index added 6.29 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1,433.40 after trading between 1,429.18 and 1,441.00. Volume was 9.790 billion shares worth 38.511 billion baht. There were 304 gainers and 158 decliners, with 177 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.45 percent, while Thailand Airport soared 2.25 percent, Asset World skyrocketed 5.78 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 1.23 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.21 percent, BTS Group surged 4.05 percent, CP All Public rose 0.87 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rallied 2.14 percent, Energy Absolute gathered 1.08 percent, Kasikornbank improved 0.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.54 percent, Krung Thai Card advanced 1.09 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 0.55 percent, PTT lost 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skidded 1.16 percent, PTT Global Chemical increased 0.75 percent, SCG Packaging gained 0.72 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.35 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.01 percent, True Corporation sank 0.72 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.16 percent and Bangkok Bank, Banpu, Gulf and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages open sharply lower on Tuesday but fought back into the green before finally settling mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.11 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 33,997,65, while the NASDAQ shed 34.24 points or 0.25 percent to close at 13,533.75 and the S&P 500 eased 0.43 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,373.20.

The early weakness on Wall Street came after data showed bigger than expected increases in retail sales and industrial production last month, raising concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for longer or even announce a rate hike this year.

Higher bond yields and geopolitical concerns in the Middle East also kept investors wary.

Crude oil futures settled flat on Tuesday after a lackluster session as investors continued to track the developments on the geopolitical front and weighed the outlook for global demand and supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended at $86.66 a barrel, unchanged from the previous close.