Thai Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Tuesday

The Thai stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,635-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with interest rate concerns offset by support from crude oil prices. The European markets were mostly higher and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index dipped 5.97 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 1,633.44 after trading between 1,629.95 and 1,646.50. Volume was 31.471 billion shares worth 82.978 billion baht. There were 1,185 decliners and 522 gainers, with 542 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.26 percent, while Bangkok Dusit Medical shed 0.45 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.55 percent, BTS Group skidded 1.04 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.98 percent, Gulf tumbled 2.25 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.07 percent, Krung Thai Card slid 0.44 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.87 percent, PTT perked 0.63 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.65 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.38 percent, SCG Packaging was down 0.41 percent, Siam Commercial Bank declined 1.60 percent, Siam Concrete surrendered 1.97 percent, TTB Bank gave away 0.85 percent and Thailand Airport, Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed and ended firmly in the red.

The Dow dropped 250.19 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 34,496.06, while the NASDAQ sank 93.34 points or 0.64 percent to close at 14,486.20 and the S&P 500 lost 30.15 points or 0.69 percent to end at 4,361.19.

Lingering concerns about the Federal Reserve scaling back its asset purchases weighed on Wall Street, as last Friday’s disappointing job report is not seen as likely to dissuade the central bank from tapering.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as some traders remained away from their desks for Columbus Day, also known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Crude oil futures spiked Monday with falling inventories, the OPEC decision to stick with a gradual production increase, and the ongoing energy crunch supporting oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $1.17 or 1.5 percent to $80.52 a barrel.

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