Losing Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,430-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly soft and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sector.

For the day, the index shed 7.85 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 1,430.40 after trading between 1,425.93 and 1,437.27. Volume was 10.026 billion shared worth 36.708 billion baht. There were 324 decliners and 161 gainers, with 178 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 0.71 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.41 percent, Asset World tumbled 1.68 percent, Banpu plunged 2.59 percent, Bangkok Expressway slipped 0.67 percent, B. Grimm tanked 2.38 percent, BTS Group rallied 3.77 percent, CP All Public dipped 0.80 percent, Energy Absolute surrendered 1.89 percent, Gulf fell 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.48 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.09 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slid 0.70 percent, PTT weakened 1.52 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skidded 1.17 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.98 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.89 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete stumbled 1.57 percent, Thai Oil plummeted 1.90 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.56 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, True Corporation and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed and ended in the red.

The Dow dropped 138.25 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 44,722.06, while the NASDAQ slumped 115.10 points or 0.60 percent to close at 19,060.48 and the S&P 500 sank 22.89 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,998.74.

The pullback by the NASDAQ was fueled by substantial weakness among computer hardware stocks, led lower by PC makers Dell Technologies (DELL) and HP Inc. (HPQ) after providing disappointing earnings guidance.

Weakness among semiconductor and networking stocks also weighed on the NASDAQ, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.

The weakness in the broader markets came after the Commerce Department released closely watched inflation data that matched expectations. While the faster annual price growth was in line with estimates, the acceleration raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil moved slightly lower on Wednesday as traders weighed news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah against data showing a bigger than expected drop by U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery eased $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $68.72 a barrel.