Thai Stocks May See Additional Support On Thursday

The Thai stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 50 points or 3.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with optimism from easing treasury yields offset by concerns for the health of the world’s economies. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials and energy companies were capped by weakness from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index picked up 3.95 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,451.25 after trading between 1,429.99 and 1,454.80. Volume was 11.042 billion shares worth 51.234 billion baht.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport tumbled 2.14 percent, while Asset World plummeted 3.70 percent, Banpu shed 0.65 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.60 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surged 2.80 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 1.26 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.93 percent, BTS Group gained 0.69 percent, CP All Public perked 1.25 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods spiked 2.54 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.54 percent, Gulf accelerated 1.69 percent, Kasikornbank rose 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.06 percent, Krung Thai Card added 0.57 percent, PTT Oil & Retail skidded 1.10 percent, PTT sank 0.77 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 1.53 percent, PTT Global Chemical increased 0.77 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 1.48 percent, Thai Oil lost 0.52 percent, True Corporation gathered 0.73 percent, TTB Bank improved 1.20 percent and SCG Packaging, Siam Concrete and Advanced Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday, saw peaks and valleys throughout the session before ending firmly in the green.

The Dow climbed 127.17 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,129.55, while the NASDAQ rallied 176.54 points or 1.35 percent to end at 13,236.01 and the S&P 500 gained 34.30 points or 0.81 percent to close at 4,263.75.

Trading on Wall Street was driven in reaction to bond market activity, with treasury yields fluctuating over the course of the session. The higher close by stocks came as yields finished firmly in negative territory, giving back ground after reaching their highest levels in 16 years.

Treasury yields closed lower following the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector job growth slowed by much more than expected in September.

Traders were still cautious ahead of the Labor Department’s more closely watched report on Friday, which may affect the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for demand amid worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $5.01 or 5.6 percent at $84.22 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide September figures for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an annual increase of 0.60 percent overall and 0.7 percent for core CPI. In August, overall inflation rose 0.88 percent on year and core CPI was up 0.79 percent.

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