Thai Stock Market Likely To Extend Losing Streak

The Thai stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, giving up almost 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,700-point plateau and it’s tipped to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growing concerns over a possible Russian invasion on Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the energy producers were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 3.80 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,699.20 after trading between 1,690.69 and 1,703.95. Volume was 28.500 billion shares worth 95.433 billion baht. There were 1,20- decliners and 507 gainers, with 510 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info surged 3.49 percent, while Thailand Airport sank 0.76 percent, Asset World climbed 1.23 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.87 percent, BTS Group skidded 1.06 percent, CP All Public fell 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.97 percent, Energy Absolute rose 0.27 percent, IRPC added 0.51 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.90 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.74 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tumbled 1.96 percent, PTT lost 0.62 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.38 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 1.11 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.02 percent, True Corporation improved 1.21 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.43 percent and Banpu, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Expressway, Gulf, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Global Chemical and SCG Packaging were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off a slightly higher open on Friday, accelerated quickly lower and finished deep in the red.

The Dow sank 503.54 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 34,738.06, while the NASDAQ plunged 394.45 points or 2.78 percent to close at 13,791.15 and the S&P 500 tumbled 85.44 points or 1.90 percent to end at 4,418.64. For the week, the Dow shed 1 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 2.2 percent and the S&P fell 1.8 percent.

The substantial weakness that emerged on Wall Street came amid concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, which officials believe could happen any time now.

Earlier in the day, uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates led to choppy trading on speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates by a full percentage point by July, including a possible 50-basis point hike in March.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday following a report from the International Energy Agency that said oil production from OPEC was significantly below target in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $3.22 or 3.6 percent at $93.10 a barrel, a fresh seven-year closing high.