Thai Stock Market May See Mild Consolidation On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,595-point plateau and it may tick lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology stocks expected to fall under strong selling pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index dipped 4.20 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,596.46 after trading between 1,593.79 and 1,604.99. Volume was 19.363 billion shares worth 60.585 billion baht.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.08 percent, while Asset World sank 0.83 percent, Banpu advanced 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.69 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 1.09 percent, B. Grimm lost 0.76 percent, BTS Group fell 0.60 percent, CP All Public gained 0.85 percent, Gulf gathered 1.00 percent, Krung Thai Bank declined 1.13 percent, Krung Thai Card dipped 0.44 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plummeted 4.08 percent, SCG Packaging tanked 2.79 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete eased 0.31 percent, True Corporation tumbled 2.02 percent, TTB Bank surged 3.76 percent and Thailand Airport, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Energy Absolute, IRPC, Kasikornbank, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, saw some strength midday but headed south as the day progressed.

The Dow managed a slight gain of 2.37 points or 0.01 percent to 31,839.11, while the NASDAQ plunged 228.12 points or 2.04 percent to close at 10.970.99 and the S&P 500 sank 28.51 points or 0.74 percent to end at 3,830.60.

The steep drop by the NASDAQ came amid a negative reaction to disappointing earnings news from tech giants Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

On the other hand, the slight uptick by the Dow came amid a strong gain by shares of Visa (V), which 4.6 percent after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales in the U.S. pulled back sharply in September after unexpectedly skyrocketing in August, although the decrease was smaller than expected.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by data showing a drop in gasoline stockpiles and a weak U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December spiked $2.59 or 3 percent at $87.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide September figures for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 6.0 percent on year after spiking 14.52 percent in August.