Thai Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Tuesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had improved almost 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,465-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to a combination of weak economic and earnings news, while profit taking may also be in order. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the food, consumer, industrial, property and service sectors, while the technology stocks offered support. For the day, the index slipped 5.07 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 1,465.03 after trading between 1,463.32 and 1,478.37. Volume was 14.039 billion shares worth 64.715 billion baht. There were 443 decliners and 109 gainers, with 117 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.72 percent, while Thailand Airport fell 0.39 percent, Asset World shed 0.53 percent, Banpu crashed 5.93 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.64 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.87 percent, Bangkok Expressway slid 0.61 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.85 percent, BTS Group was down 2.18 percent, CP All Public skidded 1.15 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.00 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 4.00 percent, Gulf jumped 1.16 percent, Krung Thai Card rallied 2.07 percent, PTT Oil & Retail improved 1.20 percent, PTT stumbled 2.19 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 2.73 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 2.80 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 3.67 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.91 percent, Siam Concrete cratered 4.89 percent, Thai Oil retreated 3.02 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Kasikornbank and Krung Thai Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but quickly turned lower and saw all of them finish well under water.

The Dow tumbled 324.80 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 42,740..42, while the NASDAQ slumped 187.10 points or 1.01 percent to close at 18,315.59 and the S&P 500 sank 44.59 points or 0.76 percent to end at 5,815.26.

The pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking as traders looked to cash in on recent strength in the markets after the Dow and S&P hit record closing highs on Monday.

Corporate earnings also weighed, led lower by the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH) and Citigroup (C), although Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) rallied on its results.

On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that regional manufacturing activity has returned to contraction in October.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday as fears about supply disruptions faded on reports that Israel will avoid targeting Iran's oil sites. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November sank $3.25 or 4.4 percent at $70.58 a barrel.