Thai Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 50 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,275-point plateau although it's due for support on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after recent volatility, with bargain hunting expected. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The SET finished barely lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials, industrials and properties were mitigated by support from the food, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index eased 0.66 points or 0.05 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,274.01 after trading as high as 1,289.24. Volume was 8.800 billion shares worth 38.320 billion baht. There were 271 decliners and 230 gainers, with 148 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.83 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 1.36 percent, Asset World tanked 2.92 percent, Banpu surrendered 3.06 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 0.96 percent, B. Grimm soared 3.60 percent, CP All Public advanced 0.88 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 5.14 percent, Gulf retreated 1.58 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.39 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.64 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.00 percent, PTT jumped 1.60 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.68 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.82 percent, SCG Packaging plunged 3.74 percent, Siam Concrete tumbled 1.94 percent, Thai Oil lost 0.52 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 294.39 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 38,997.66, while the NASDAQ rallied 166.77 points or 1.03 percent to end at 16,366.85 and the S&P 500 gained 53.70 points or 1.04 percent to close at 5,240.03.

The support on Wall Street came as investors picked up stocks at reduced levels following Monday's data-induced heavy selling.

Investors also reacted positively to the latest batch of corporate earnings news from the likes of Uber, CSX, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Microsoft and JP Morgan Chase, among others.

Economic data was also better as the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June. Also, the Atlanta Fed raised its third quarter growth projection for the U.S. economy, citing latest economic data.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Tuesday, snapping a four-session losing streak, as the shutdown of Libya's 270,000 barrel per day Sharara oil field offered mild support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $0.26 or 0.36 percent at $73.20 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release July data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an annual increase of 0.7 percent overall and 0.39 percent for core CPI. They were at 0.62 percent and 0.36 percent, respectively, in June.