Thai Stock Market Likely To Open Under Pressure On Thursday

The Thai stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 20 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,660-point plateau and it’s looking at another red light again for Thursday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests further consolidation as rising bond yields continue to hammer technology stocks – although support from crude oil may limit the downside. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials were mitigated by support from the energy producers.

For the day, the index eased 2.03 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,658.24 after trading between 1,653.38 and 1,667.44. Volume was 37.433 billion shares worth 96.191 billion baht. There were 1,207 decliners and 547 gainers, with 479 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World advanced 0.87 percent, while Bangkok Bank sank 0.76 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.62 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.97 percent, Energy Absolute gained 0.53 percent, Gulf increased 0.50 percent, IRPC climbed 1.01 percent, Kasikornbank tanked 2.08 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.44 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.84 percent, PTT rallied 2.63 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 0.79 percent, PTT Global Chemical perked 0.87 percent, SCG Packaging declined 1.61 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.81 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.26 percent, True Corporation surged 5.63 percent, TTB Bank slumped 1.39 percent and Advanced Info, Thailand Airport, Banpu, Bangkok Dusit Medical, BTS Group, CP All Public and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages were unable to hold on to early gains on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing in the red for the second straight session.

For the day, the Dow tumbled 339.82 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 35,028.65, while the NASDAQ dropped 166.64 points or 1.15 percent to close at 14,340.25 and the S&P 500 sank 44.35 points or 0.97 percent to end at 4.532.76.

The late slide on Wall Street came amid rising Treasury yields and worries over inflation and looming interest rate hikes after U.S. Treasury yields hit fresh two-year highs amid Fed rate hike expectations.

Most analysts believe a rate hike of at least 25 basis points from the FOMC is imminent, although some are now starting to think it may be a 50 bp boost.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said that U.S. homebuilding increased to a nine-month high in December amid a surge in multi-family housing projects.

Crude oil prices continued their recent upward surge on Wednesday, rising for the fifth straight day to a fresh seven-year high following supply issues in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate for February contract jumped $1.22 or 1.43 percent to $86.65 per barrel.