Thai Stock Market Likely To Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 20 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,685-point plateau but it’s predicted to open in the red on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for continued volatility as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. The European markets finished lower and the U.S. bourses ended mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference after a wild ride.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 5.28 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,685.18 after trading between 1,668.05 and 1,690.61. Volume was 27.861 billion shares worth 93.847 billion baht. There were 1,067 decliners and 723 gainers, with 560 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.44 percent, while Thailand Airport strengthened 1.58 percent, Asset World tanked 2.44 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.56 percent, B. Grimm improved 0.73 percent, BTS Group shed 0.52 percent, CP All Public rose 0.37 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods declined 1,94 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.88 percent, Gulf advanced 1.00 percent, IRPC increased 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.45 percent, Krung Thai Card sank 0.78 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tumbled 1.90 percent, PTT perked 1.28 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 3.02 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 3.64 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 1.03 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Banpu, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Kasikornbank, SCG Packaging and Siam Commercial Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up mixed as the major averages opened lower on Monday. Amidst wild swings, the Dow and the S&P 500 remained in the red throughout, although a late surge from the NASDAQ pushed it into positive territory.

The Dow dropped 166.15 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 33,892.60, while the NASDAQ added 56.78 points or 0.41 percent to close at 13,751.40 and the S&P lost 10.71 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,373.94.

Geopolitical concerns have contributed to the pullback on Wall Street amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. News that Russian President Vladimir Putin has put his nuclear forces on high alert has led to worries about an escalation.

Russian and Ukrainian officials are meeting on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border to discuss a possible ceasefire, although optimism the talks will lead to peace is low. The West continues to ramp up sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion, leading to worries about the impact on the global economy.

On the U.S. economic front, MNI Indicators released a report showing a significant slowdown in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in February.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday amid rising concerns about supply disruptions in Russia. As Russia accounts for about 10 percent of the global oil supply, the sanctions by the West are likely to significantly hurt supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by 4.13 or 4.5 percent at $95.72 a barrel.

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