Thai Stock Market Draws Flat Lead For Wednesday

The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,395-point plateau and it’s expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky and flat ahead of key economic data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the food, finance, industrial and resource sectors.

For the day, the index fell 4.44 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 1,393.70 after trading between 1,390.05 and 1,401.14. Volume was 22.959 billion shares worth 55.801 billion baht. There were 294 decliners and 217 gainers, with 150 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dipped 0.49 percent, while Asset World retreated 1.51 percent, Banpu plunged 2.59 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.35 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical and SCG Packaging both dropped 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway surged 2.53 percent, B. Grimm surrendered 1.83 percent, BTS Group tumbled 7.34 percent, CP All Public rallied 2.18 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 5.70 percent, Gulf skidded 1.11 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.81 percent, Krung Thai Bank was down 1.84 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.57 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 1.09 percent, PTT and True Corporation both weakened 0.69 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 0.65 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 1.97 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.89 percent, Siam Concrete slid 0.37 percent, Thai Oil crashed 5.17 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.53 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and ended little changed and on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow slumped 96.82 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 38,972.41, while the NASDAQ added 59.05 points or 0.37 percent to close at 16,035.30 and the S&P 500 rose 8.65 points or 0.17 percent to end at 5,078.18.

Traders stuck to the sidelines ahead of the release of some key economic data later this week, including a closely watched inflation reading.

The inflation data could have a notable impact on the outlook for interest rates, as Fed officials have said they need greater confidence inflation is slowing before cutting rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a substantial decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in January. Also, the Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in February.

Oil prices moved higher Tuesday on supply concerns due to the disruptions in the Red Sea route and amid uncertainty about a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.29 or 1.66 percent at $78.87 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release January figures for industrial production later today, with forecasts calling for a decline of 5.4 percent on year following the 6.27 percent slide in the previous month.