Higher Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 25 points or 1.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on a mixed outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the food, consumer, finance, service and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the industrial, property and resource companies.

For the day, the index added 6.40 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1,451.47 after trading between 1,447.82 and 1,463.31. Volume was 14.814 billion shares worth 45.935 billion baht. There were 244 gainers and 239 decliners, with 180 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport slid 0.42 percent, while Asset World lost 0.58 percent, Banpu dropped 0.86 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.03 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surged 4.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 0.65 percent, B. Grimm fell 0.49 percent, BTS Group dipped 0.41 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.65 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 3.15 percent, Gulf slumped 1.17 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.68 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.49 percent, Krung Thai Card gained 0.54 percent, PTT sank 0.76 percent, PTT Exploration and Production stumbled 2.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.18 percent, SCG Packaging rose 0.44 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.88 percent, Siam Concrete shed 0.51 percent, Thai Oil strengthened 1.23 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Advanced Info, PTT Oil & Retail and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but quickly faded and wound up mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 47.21 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 43,958.19, while the NASDAQ sank 50.66 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,230.74 and the S&P 500 perked 1.39 points or 0.02 percent to end at 5,985.38.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came following the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data that came in line with estimates.

While the data increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue lowering interest rates next month, inflation remaining somewhat sticky led to uncertainty about the likelihood of future rate cuts.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 82.3 percent chance of another quarter point rate cut in December but a 60.2 percent chance rates will then be left unchanged in January.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday thanks to short covering after recent sharp losses, while a firm dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $0.31 or 0.46 percent at $68.43 a barrel.