Higher Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 9 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,445-point plateau although it's expected to open to the upside on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on improved optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, consumer, financial, property, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index fell 4.48 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,443.05 after trading between 1,441.68 and 1,454.32. Volume was 8.280 billion shares worth 36.161 billion baht. There were 307 decliners and 162 gainers, with 196 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info tumbled 2.03 percent, while Thailand Airport spiked 1.65 percent, Asset World gained 0.54 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.31 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 0.68 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.92 percent, BTS Group advanced 1.75 percent, CP All Public rose 0.40 percent, Gulf declined 1.56 percent, Kasikornbank stumbled 1.28 percent, Krung Thai Bank tanked 2.33 percent, Krung Thai Card rallied 2.09 percent, PTT Oil & Retail climbed 1.44 percent, PTT increased 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 1.19 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.40 percent, SCG Packaging jumped 1.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.42 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 3.35 percent, True Corporation improved 0.85 percent and TTB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Banpu, Energy Absolute, Thai Oil and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green on Wednesday, although the Dow was unable to hold those gains.

The Dow dropped 99.27 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 44,148.56, while the NASDAQ surged 347.65 points or 1.77 percent to close at a record 20,034.89 and the S&P 500 rallied 49.28 points or 0.82 percent to end at 6,084.19.

The strength in the broader markets followed the release of closely watched inflation data that came in line with estimates.

With the data matching expectations, the report has increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another quarter-point next week.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 98.6 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting.

Oil futures settled higher Wednesday on possible sanctions on Russia by the European Union, expectations of increased demand from China and data showing a jump in gasoline stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January closed up $1.70 or 2.5 percent at $70.29 a barrel.