Soft Start Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last 11 trading days since the end of the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 50 points or 4.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,180-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over rising bond yields. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets also figure to open under pressure.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, consumer, finance, property and service sectors.

For the day, the index sank 9.33 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 1,179.81 after trading between 1,176.65 and 1,199.29. Volume was 1-.291 billion shares worth 46.877 billion baht. There were 293 decliners and 198 gainers, with 168 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.02 percent, while Thailand Airport stumbled 2.16 percent, Banpu added 0.42 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.67 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 1.74 percent, Bangkok Expressway sank 0.85 percent, B. Grimm and Charoen Pokphand Foods both dropped 0.95 percent, CP All Public plummeted 4.43 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 5.41 percent, Gulf stumbled 2.07 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 1.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank fell 0.44 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.61 percent, PTT Oil & Retail retreated 1.56 percent, PTT Exploration and Production accelerated 2.50 percent, PTT Global Chemical skyrocketed 8.11 percent, SCG Packaging surged 3.75 percent, Siam Commercial Bank declined 1.22 percent, Siam Concrete soared 3.34 percent, Thai Oil spiked 3.74 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.63 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.02 percent and Asset World, PTT and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and only got worse as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 816.80 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 41,860.44, while the NASDAQ dropped 270.07 points or 1.41 percent to close at 18,872.64 and the S&P 500 sank 95.85 points or 1.61 percent to end at 5,844.61.

The weakness on Wall Street was the result of a continued increase by bond yields, with the 30-year bond yield climbing above 5 percent due to concerns a new U.S. tax bill could worsen the country's deficit.

President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill is one step closer to a full vote in the House of Representatives, with economists warning the proposal would add more than $2.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Treasury yields saw further upside after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds attracted below average demand.

Crude oil futures fell under pressure Wednesday after a report released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories unexpectedly increased last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery slid $0.46 to 0.7 percent to $61.57 a barrel.