Thai Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Tuesday

The Thai stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, slipping more than 30 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,420-point plateau and it’s expected to find traction on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with strong support expected from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower again on Monday following losses from the food, consumer, industrial, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index lost 11.95 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 1,419.72 after trading between 1,414.86 and 1,424.68. Volume was 7.436 billion shares worth 40.533 billion baht. There were 375 decliners and 119 gainers, with 171 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.35 percent, while Bangkok Dusit Medical slumped 1.63 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.46 percent, BTS Group rallied 3.39 percent, CP All Public plummeted 5.60 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.67 percent, Energy Absolute tanked 2.48 percent, Gulf improved 0.82 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.63 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.47 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.03 percent, PTT gained 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.41 percent, PTT Global Chemical stumbled 2.02 percent, SCG Packaging plunged 2.90 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.29 percent, Thai Oil sank 0.69 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.85 percent, TTB Bank added 0.54 percent and Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Asset World, Banpu, PTT Oil & Retail, Thailand Airport and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and finished largely the same way.

The Dow shed 110.58 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 43,717.48, while the NASDAQ surged 247.17 points or 1.24 percent to close at a record 20,173.89 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.99 points or 0.38 percent to end at 6,074.08.

The general strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to continue cutting interest rates, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.1 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by another 25 basis points.

The surge by the NASDAQ came amid significant strength among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 2.1 percent. Networking stocks also saw considerable strength, extending a recent upward trend, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.0 percent to a new record closing high.

Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as recent data showing inflation remains somewhat sticky has led to some worries the Fed will lower rates slower than previously anticipated next year.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a sharp pullback by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel.