No Relief Yet For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, slipping almost 55 points or 3.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,590-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on recession fears and the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the oversold Asian bourses figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and energy companies.

For the day, the index dipped 2.86 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 1,589.51 after trading between 1,584.22 and 1,597.44. Volume was 18.368 billion shares worth 62.650 billion baht. There were 993 decliners and 560 gainers, with 579 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info eased 0.26 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.68 percent, Banpu sank 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.09 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.67 percent, Bangkok Expressway fell 0.54 percent, B. Grimm lost 0.74 percent, BTS Group slid 0.60 percent, Energy Absolute dipped 0.28 percent, Gulf added 0.48 percent, Kasikornbank weakened 0.35 percent, PTT declined 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was down 0.31 percent, PTT Global Chemical gained 0.61 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slumped 0.48 percent, Thai Oil dropped 0.97 percent, True Corporation advanced 1.00 percent and TTB Bank, Asset World, CP All Public, Charoen Pokphand Foods, IRPC, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT Oil & Retail, SCG Packaging and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages hugged the line through the first half of Friday's trade but headed firmly south in the afternoon, closing near daily lows.

The Dow plummeted 500.09 points or 1.71 percent to finish at 28,725.51, while the NASDAQ tumbled 161.88 points or 1.51 percent to close at 10.575.62 and the S&P 500 dropped 54.85 points or 1.51 percent to end at 3,585.62.

For the week, the NASDAQ dove 2.7 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both plunged 2.9 percent. The major averages also posted steep losses for the month and the quarter.

The extended sell-off on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about the global economic outlook amid aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks around the world.

Adding to the negative sentiment, a reading on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve showed an acceleration in the pace of core consumer price growth in August. The faster rate of price growth may lead the Fed to maintain is aggressive stance regarding future rate hikes.

Crude oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $1.74 or 2.1 percent at $79.49 a barrel.