Thai Stock Market May Extend Thursday’s Losses

The Thai stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,695-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way lower. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the energy producers were mitigated by support from the financials.

For the day, the index dipped 3.16 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 1,695.24 after trading between 1,693.16 and 1,701.95. Volume was 24.388 billion shares worth 71.203 billion baht. There were 1,188 decliners and 531 gainers, with 566 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info sank 0.85 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.38 percent, Asset World advanced 0.99 percent, Banpu tumbled 1.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.58 percent, BTS Group increased 0.55 percent, CP All Public stumbled 1.14 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.63 percent, IRPC shed 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank improved 0.94 percent, Krung Thai Bank strengthened 1.47 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.99 percent, PTT lost 0.65 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.70 percent, SCG Packaging slumped 0.82 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.88 percent, Siam Concrete was up 0.26 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.76 percent and Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, B. Grimm, Energy Absolute, Gulf, Krung Thai Card, PTT Global Chemical and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and the losses accelerated as the session progressed, finishing solidly in the red.

The Dow plummeted 550.46 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 34,678.35, while the NASDAQ plunged 221.76 points or 1.54 percent to close at 14,220.52 and the S&P 500 tumbled 72.04 points or 1.57 percent to end at 4,530.41.

Selling pressure picked up considerably in the final hour of the last trading day of the quarter, which marked the first negative quarter for the major averages since the first quarter of 2020.

For the first three months of 2022, the Nasdaq plummeted by 9.1 percent and the S&P 500 and Dow dove by 4.9 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, although the major averages regained some ground in March.

Traders may also have been looking to safer havens ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report later today.

Crude oil prices drifted plummeted on Thursday after U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the next six months. West Texas International Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $7.54 or 7 percent at $100.28 a barrel, the lowest close since March 16.

Closer to home, Thailand will see March results for its business confidence index later today; in February, the index score was 47.8.