More Pain Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Chulalongkorn Day, the Thai stock market had tracked lower in three straight sessions, slipping almost 25 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,470-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative amid rising treasury yields and pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the food, consumer, finance, property, resource and service sectors.

For the day, the index stumbled 18.42 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 1,470.32 after trading between 1,467.77 and 1,487.80. Volume was 10.200 billion shares worth 57.044 billion baht. There were 438 decliners and 93 gainers, with 137 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info plunged 3.17 percent, while Thailand Airport dipped 0.79 percent, Asset World skidded 1.06 percent, Banpu sank 0.78 percent, Bangkok Bank and PTT Exploration and Production both stumbled 1.95 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was down 2.54 percent, Bangkok Expressway and PTT Oil & Retail both dropped 2.42 percent, B. Grimm slumped 1.68 percent, BTS Group shed 0.88 percent, CP All Public lost 1.49 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods surrendered 3.85 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 5.45 percent, Gulf and Krung Thai Bank both tanked 3.27 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 2.00 percent, Krung Thai Card slipped 0.52 percent, PTT slid 0.74 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 1.39 percent, SCG Packaging advanced 0.94 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.88 percent, Siam Concrete weakened 1.42 percent, Thai Oil added 0.54 percent, True Corporation surged 3.42 percent and TTB Bank retreated 2.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, albeit bouncing off session lows.

The Dow plunged 409.94 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 42,514.95, while the NASDAQ plummeted 296.47 points or 1.60 percent to close at 18,276.47 and the S&P 500 dropped 53.78 points or 0.92 percent to end at 5,797.42.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid a continued increase by treasury yields, which have moved sharply higher over the past few sessions.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note has risen to its highest level in almost three months amid worries the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates slower than previously anticipated.

While the Fed is still widely expected to lower interest rates by a quarter-point next month, there is increasing skepticism about another rate cut in December.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while a stronger dollar also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December fell $0.97 or 1.35 percent at $70.77 a barrel.