Thai Stock Market May See Additional Support On Tuesday

Ahead of Monday’s holiday for Asarnha Bucha Day, the Thai stock market had snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 15 points or 0.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,545-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with little movement expected among ongoing Covid-19 concerns. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index lost 7.26 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 1,545.10 after trading between 1m540.35 and 1,553.25. Volume was 22.044 billion shares worth 59.508 billion baht. There were 1,237 decliners and 400 gainers, with 474 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Bangkok Bank shed 0.48 percent, while Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.44 percent, Bangkok Expressway tanked 2.48 percent, BTS Group plunged 3.80 percent, Gulf sank 0.74 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 0.94 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 0.77 percent, PTT declined 1.38 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.46 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.72 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dipped 0.26 percent, Siam Concrete surrendered 0.96 percent and TTB Bank, Advanced Info, Thailand Airport, Charoen Pokphand Foods, PTT Oil & Retail and SCG Packaging all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages shook off a soft open on Monday, climbing gradually throughout the day to finish at fresh record closing highs.

The Dow gained 82.76 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 35,144.31, while the NASDAQ rose 3.72 points or 0.03 percent to end at 16,565.31 and the S&P 500 added 10.51 points or 0.24 percent to close at 4,422.30.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as upbeat earnings news warred with concerns about the spread of new coronavirus variants.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but traders will pay close attention to any comments regarding its asset purchase program.

In economic news, the Commerce Department showed another steep drop in new home sales in June.

Crude oil futures settled lower Monday amid worries about the outlook for energy demand due to the rapidly spreading delta variant of the coronavirus in several countries around the world. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended down by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $71.91 a barrel after four straight days of gains.