Thai Stock Market May Bounce Higher Again On Wednesday

The Thai stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one session after ending the three-day slide in which it had fallen almost 20 points or 1.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,530-point plateau although it’s likely to rebound again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher, with apprehension reigning over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the food, energy, finance and industrial stocks were tempered by support from the technology shares.

For the day, the index dipped 2.66 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 1,528.54 after trading between 1,526.93 and 1,539.49. Volume was 13.764 billion shares worth 47.230 billion baht.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.94 percent, while Thailand Airport slid 0.71 percent, Asset World lost 0.82 percent, Banpu gained 0.60 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.52 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.62 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 1.22 percent, Gulf plummeted 3.72 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.03 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.49 percent, PTT Oil & Retail fell 0.50 percent, PTT strengthened 1.65 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.75 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.70 percent, SCG Packaging plunged 3.14 percent, Siam Concrete advanced 0.92 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.12 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.76 percent, TTB Bank declined 1.20 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Siam Commercial Bank, B. Grimm, CP All Public and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages spent much of Tuesday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line, finally finishing with slight gains.

The Dow rose 10.42 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 33,573.28, while the NASDAQ added 46.99 points or 0.36 percent to close at 13,276.42 and the S&P 500 picked up 10.06 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,283.85.

Traders remained reluctant to make significant moves as they continue to look ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday, with the central bank widely expected to pause its recent series of interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices slumped Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to economic slowdown and interest rate hikes. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July fell $0.41 or 0.6 percent at $71.74 a barrel.