Oversold Thai Bourse Called To Open Lower On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, slumping almost 60 points or 4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,540-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on renewed concerns over the health of the financial systems. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and service companies.

For the day, the index skidded 17.67 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 1,540.20. Volume was 14.850 billion shares worth 46.390 billion baht. There were 1,221 decliners and 326 gainers, with 295 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport dove 0.69 percent, while Asset World stumbled 1.85 percent, Banpu tanked 2.66 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.58 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway sank 1.11 percent, B. Grimm slumped 1.32 percent, CP All Public improved 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tumbled 1.93 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 3.51 percent, Gulf dropped 0.98 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card declined 1.88 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 1.83 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.32 percent, PTT Global Chemical shed 0.60 percent, SCG Packaging jumped 1.76 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.49 percent, Siam Concrete lost 0.66 percent, Thai Oil slid 0.51 percent, True Corporation plummeted 3.14 percent, TTB Bank surrendered 2.05 percent and Krung Thai Bank, PTT and Advanced Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but accelerated deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 344.57 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 33,530.83, while the NASDAQ tumbled 238.05 points or 1.98 percent to close at 11,799.16 and the S&P 500 sank 65.4 points or 1.58 percent to end at 4,071.63.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected a negative reaction to quarterly results from First Republic (FRC), with the regional bank plunging by 49.4 percent. The steep drop came after the company reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

Results for UPS Inc. (UPS) also disappointed, while General Motors (GM), PepsiCo (PEP), McDonald's (MCD) and 3M (MMM) reported better than expected quarterly earnings.

In economic news, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence deteriorated more than expected in April. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales unexpectedly spiked to their highest level in a year in March.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday amid concerns over the outlook for energy demand due to fears of a global economic slowdown, while the dollar's rise weighed as well. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.69 or 2.2 percent to $77.07 per barrel.