Thai Bourse Overdue For Support On Thursday

The stock market has tracked lower in five straight sessions, sinking almost 50 points or 3.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,520-point plateau although it’s expected to stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over debt ceiling negotiations in the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, industrial, resource and financial sectors.

For the day, the index slumped 17.10 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 1,522.74 after trading between 1,517.21 and 1,543.63. Volume was 14.470 billion shares worth 57.403 billion baht.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.94 percent, while Asset World stumbled 1.83 percent, Banpu tanked 3.57 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 1.24 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.85 percent, BTS Group lost 0.66 percent, CP All Public skidded 2.70 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tumbled 2.02 percent, Energy Absolute slumped 2.24 percent, Gulf gained 0.52 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.48 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dipped 0.44 percent, PTT weakened 1.55 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 4.55 percent, SCG Packaging surrendered 1.70 percent, Siam Commercial Bank retreated 1.44 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.59 percent, Thai Oil plummeted 3.74 percent, True Corporation was down 3.47 percent, TTB Bank fell 0.68 percent and Krung Thai Bank, B. Grimm, Thailand Airport and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 408.63 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 33,420.77, while the NASDAQ rallied 157.51 points or 1.28 percent to end at 12,500.57 and the S&P 500 advanced 48.87 points or 1.19 percent to close at 4,158.77.

The rebound on Wall Street reflected optimism that lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling following Tuesday’s meeting between President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders.

Regional banks helped lead the rebound on Wall Street, with shares of Western Alliance (WAL) spiking by 10.2 percent after the company said deposit growth for the current quarter exceeded $2 billion as of May 12.

In economic news, the Commerce Department unexpectedly reported a significant rebound in new residential construction in April, although building permits came in below expectations for the month.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Wednesday on expectations of higher demand and optimism over U.S. debt ceiling negotiations. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June jumped $1.97 or 2.8 percent at $72.83 a barrel.