Thai Stock Market May Inch Higher On Thursday

The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,580-point plateau although it may see mild upside on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with investors expected to wait and see what happens in terms of corporate earnings. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little hanged and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, resource stocks and service companies.

For the day, the index sank 13.12 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 1,580.73 after trading between 1,579.23 and 1,595.08. Volume was 14.685 billion shares worth 55.198 billion baht. There were 1,167 decliners and 316 gainers, with 406 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World tumbled 1.83 percent, while Bangkok Bank declined 1.25 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.67 percent, B. Grimm weakened 1.26 percent, CP All Public jumped 1.59 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.48 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 4.22 percent, Gulf slumped 1.40 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.75 percent, Krung Thai Card plunged 3.15 percent, PTT surrendered 1.59 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.59 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 1.14 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.50 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 0.96 percent, Thai Oil tanked 1.98 percent, True Corporation stumbled 1.85 percent and TTB Bank, Thailand Airport, PTT Exploration and Production, Banpu, Krung Thai Bank, Advanced Info, PTT Oil & Retail, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains ambiguous as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday but chipped away throughout the session to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 79.62 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 33,897.01, while the NASDAQ rose 3.82 points or 0.03 percent to close at 12,157.23 and the S&P 500 eased 0.35 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,154.52.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders reacted to mixed earnings news as Netflix (NFLX) disappointed while Morgan Stanley (MS) and Travelers (TRV) beat the street.

Negative sentiment was generated by a jump in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest level in nearly a month. The increase reflected concerns about global inflation after the U.K. said consumer prices increased more than expected in March.

On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book report, noting U.S. economic activity was little changed in recent weeks, while the rate of price increases appeared to be slowing.

Crude oil prices slid on Wednesday on concerns that any further policy tightening by the Fed could hurt growth and significantly curb energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $1.66 or 2 percent at $79.24 a barrel.

Market Analysis