Thai Stock Market Likely To Remain Rangebound

The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 15 points or 1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,635-point plateau although it’s expected to see renewed support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, supported mainly by crude oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the technology and agricultural stocks were mitigated by support from the financials and energy producers.

For the day, the index slipped 1.59 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,633.76 after trading between 1,627.29 and 1,642.63. Volume was 42.529 billion shares worth 86.159 billion baht. There were 900 decliners and 819 gainers, with 523 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info jumped 2.84 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 2.06 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.45 percent, Bangkok Expressway soared 4.17 percent, BTS spiked 2.72 percent, Delta Electronics plummeted 14.21 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 4.07 percent, Kasikornbank advanced 0.83 percent, KCE Electronics lost 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.18 percent, PTT perked 0.66 percent, PTT Exploration and Production improved 1.41 percent, PTT Global Chemical gained 0.83 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.97 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 1.46 percent, Sri Trang Agro tanked 4.70 percent, Sri Trang Gloves sank 2.82 percent, TTB accelerated 2.86 percent and Bangkok Medical, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf, Krung Thai Bank and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened higher on Monday, although the NASDAQ quickly slipped into the red and finished that way. The Dow and the S&P went on to halt five-session slides.

The Dow jumped 261.91 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 34,869.63, while the NASDAQ dipped 9.91 points or 0.07 percent to close at 15,105.58 and the S&P 500 rose 10.15 points or 0.23 percent to end at 4,468.73.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders went bargain hunting following the downward move seen over the past several sessions.

However, the looming Federal Reserve meeting made traders reluctant to make significant moves, with the central bank potentially providing an update on the outlook for its asset purchase program.

The Fed’s two-day monetary policy meeting is scheduled for next week, but recent signs of slowing economic momentum could lead the central bank to hold off on discussing tapering.

The price of crude oil showed a notable move to the upside during trading on Monday, reflecting lingering concerns about U.S. supply. After jumping $1.58 or 2.3 percent to $69.72 a barrel last Friday, crude for October delivery climbed $0.73 or 1 percent to $70.45 a barrel.