Thai Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Wednesday

The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting just 3 points or 0.2 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,390-point plateau and it’s tipped to open in the red on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on rising pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower and the Asian markets figure to also open under pressure.

The SET finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the food, industrial, resource and technology sectors were offset by weakness from the financials and service companies.

For the day, the index rose 2.43 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 1,391.73 after trading between 1,390.40 and 1,397.80. Volume was 9.238 billion shares worth 32.885 billion baht. There were 251 gainers and 204 decliners, with 196 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info lost 0.47 percent, while Thailand Airport plunged 3.07 percent, Asset World surged 3.00 percent, Banpu advanced 0.85 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.80 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 0.68 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.86 percent, BTS Group rallied 0.85 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.63 percent, Gulf gained 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.41 percent, Prime Road Power skyrocketed 6.67 percent, PTT Oil & Retail soared 3.87 percent, PTT perked 0.72 percent, PTT Exploration and Production climbed 0.98 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.42 percent, Siam Commercial Bank tumbled 1.92 percent, Siam Concrete sank 0.75 percent, Thai Oil rose 0.45 percent, TTB Bank retreated 1.63 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, SCG Packaging, True Corporation and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened sharply lower and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow plunged 524.63 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 38,272.75, while the NASDAQ tumbled 286.95 points or 1.80 percent to close at 15,655.60 and the S&P 500 sank 68.67 points or 1.37 percent to end at 4,953.17.

The sell-off on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in January.

With Federal Reserve officials repeatedly saying they need more confidence that inflation is slowing before lowering interest rates, the data has further reduced optimism about a near-term rate cut.

Treasuries yields surged in response to the data, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reaching its highest level in two months.

Oil prices climbed higher Tuesday amid concerns about supply due to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose $0.95 or 1.25 percent at $77.87 a barrel, up for a seventh straight session.