Win Streak May End For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,390-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of key U.S. employment data later this week, while slumping oil prices also may weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the food, financial, industrial and technology sectors.

For the day, the index added 6.01 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,389.55 after trading between 1,379.62 and 1,393.46. Volume was 11.983 billion shares worth 38.636 billion baht. There were 314 gainers and 147 decliners, with 182 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World jumped 1.63 percent, while Banpu fell 0.67 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.90 percent, Bangkok Expressway accelerated 1.89 percent, B. Grimm spiked 1.92 percent, BTS Group improved 0.70 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.52 percent, Gulf gained 0.55 percent, Kasikornbank slumped 1.16 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.06 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tumbled 1.72 percent, PTT Global Chemical and TTB Bank both rallied 1.29 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.75 percent, Siam Concrete lost 0.68 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.89 percent and Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT, Thai Oil, CP All Public and Thailand Airport all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major average opened higher on Wednesday but couldn’t hold the gains and eventually finished under water.

The Dow dropped 70.13 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 36,054.43, while the NASDAQ sank 83.20 points or 0.58 percent to end at 14,146.71 and the S&P 500 lost 17.84 points or 0.39 percent to close at 4,549.34.

The early strength on Wall Street followed the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by less than expected in November.

The weaker than expected private sector job growth added to recent optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates.

However, stocks retreated as traders chose to lighten commitments due to concerns about possible overbought conditions in the market ahead of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday, extending losses to a fifth straight day after data showed a large increase in gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week, raising concerns about the outlook for fuel demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $2.94 or 4.1 percent at $69.38 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see November data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.3 percent on year for overall inflation after slipping 0.31 percent in October. Core CPI is seen higher by an annual 0.6 percent, down from 0.66 percent a month earlier.