Thai Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Monday halted the five-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,545-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected amid 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 trend generally lower as well.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index added 11.44 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 1,544.81 after trading between 1,535.81 and 1,546.29. Volume was 16.019 billion shares worth 49.093 billion baht. There were 952 gainers and 670 decliners, with 479 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport rose 0.36 percent, while Asset World spiked 2.49 percent, Banpu rallied 2.40 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.58 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.34 percent, BTS Group improved 1.16 percent, CP All Public perked 0.41 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.95 percent, Energy Absolute dipped 0.31 percent, Gulf gained 0.52 percent, IRPC advanced 1.28 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.71 percent, Krung Thai Bank accelerated 2.07 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.97 percent, PTT surged 2.99 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 2.60 percent, PTT Global Chemical gathered 1.15 percent, SCG Packaging was up 0.47 percent, Siam Commercial Bank climbed 1.33 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.27 percent, Thai Oil gained 1.52 percent, TTB Bank jumped 2.68 percent and Advanced Info, Krung Thai Card and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages couldn't hold on to early gains, sinking as the day progressed to close firmly in the red.

The Dow tumbled 215.65 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 31,072.61, while the NASDAQ sank 92.37 points or 0.81 percent to end at 11,360.05 and the S&P 500 lost 32.31 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,830.85.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels, while positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news from Goldman Sachs (GS) and others.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders continued to worry about the economic outlook ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing a substantial deterioration in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of July.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday with traders assessing crude supply levels amid concerns over gas supply from Russia. A weak dollar also contributed significantly to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $5.01 or 5.1 percent at $102.60 a barrel.