Thai Shares Tipped To Halt Losing Streak

The Thai stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,380-point plateau although it’s due for support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the food, industry, property, service and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index fell 3.48 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,382.46 after trading between 1,382.46 and 1,391.21. Volume was 17.381 billion shares worth 54.092 billion baht. There were 259 decliners and 216 gainers, with 174 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.48 percent, while Thailand Airport retreated 1.52 percent, Asset World slumped 1.02 percent, Bangkok Bank improved 0.72 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 0.86 percent, B. Grimm climbed 0.88 percent, BTS Group lost 0.93 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.53 percent, Gulf fell 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.40 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plunged 2.17 percent, PTT perked 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.32 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.64 percent, SCG Packaging dropped 0.84 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.87 percent, Siam Concrete skidded 1.12 percent, Thai Oil increased 0.85 percent, True Corporation slid 0.63 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.54 percent and Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, Banpu, Energy Absolute, CP All Public and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.

The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.

Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank’s accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.