Thai Shares May Take Further Damage On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 35 points or 2.5 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,380-point plateau and it's likely to open under water again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply lower on Wednesday with losses across the board, especially the food, finance, industrial, property and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dropped 21.07 points or 1.50 percent to finish at 1,380.65 after trading between 1,378.85 and 1,397.97. Volume was 17.579 billion shares worth 56.728 billion baht. There were 457 decliners and 72 gainers, with 127 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.84 percent, while Thailand Airport tumbled 2.78 percent, Asset World stumbled 3.83 percent, Banpu surrendered 3.05 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.00 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tanked 2.68 percent, Bangkok Expressway plunged 3.16 percent, B. Grimm slid 2.78 percent, BTS Group lost 0.70 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 2.63 percent, Energy Absolute crashed 4.79 percent, Gulf dipped 1.09 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 1.09 percent, Krung Thai Card tumbled 2.86 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slipped 2.12 percent, PTT eased 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was down 1.33 percent, PTT Global Chemical weakened 1.40 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 3.73 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.97 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 3.87 percent, TTB Bank sank 1.24 percent and True Corporation, Thai Oil and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday and stayed that way, although they managed to finish well off session lows.

The Dow dropped 94.45 point or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,266.67, while the NASDAQ slumped 88.72 points or 0.59 percent to close at 14,855.62 and the S&P 500 lost 26.77 points or 0.56 percent to end at 4,739.21.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates amid recent concerns the Federal Reserve won't lower rates as early as previously hoped.

Adding to worries the Fed will hold off on cutting rates, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. retail sales increased by more than expected in December.

A separate report from the Federal Reserve also showed an unexpected uptick in U.S. industrial production last month.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, although concerns about the outlook for oil demand and a firm dollar limited the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February rose $0.16 at $72.56 a barrel.