Oversold Thai Stock Market Has Soft Lead For Wednesday

The Thai stock market has ended lower in three straight sessions, tumbling more than 75 points or 4.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and it may at least open in the red on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests volatility amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting surge in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 7.60 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 1,619.10 after trading between 1,580.80 and 1,633.50. Volume was 42.492 billion shares worth 149.938 billion baht. There were 1,424 decliners and 573 gainers, with 398 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.40 percent, while Asset World shed 0.42 percent, Banpu plunged 3.31 percent, Bangkok Bank spiked 2.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical accelerated 2.08 percent, Bangkok Expressway skidded 1.17 percent, BTS Group lost 0.55 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.69 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 3.49 percent, Gulf climbed 1.08 percent, IRPC sank 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.30 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.76 percent, Krung Thai Card fell 0.41 percent, PTT and PTT Exploration and Production both declined 0.65 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 1.02 percent, SCG Packaging was down 0.91 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete eased 0.27 percent, True Corporation rose 0.40 percent, TTB Bank advanced 1.57 percent and Advanced Info, B. Grimm, CP All Public and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Tuesday but then bounced back and forth across the unchanged line, finally ending with modest losses.

The Dow dropped 184.74 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 32,632.64, while the NASDAQ lost 35.41 points or 0.28 percent to close at 12,795.55 and the S&P 500 shed 30.39 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,170.70.

The volatility on Wall Street came as crude oil prices continued to skyrocket as President Joe Biden officially announced a U.S. ban on the import of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday amid concerns about global oil supply after Biden announced a ban on import of Russian energy products. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $4.30 or 3.6 percent at $123.70 a barrel.

Gas stations are raising prices along with the spike in oil futures, as AAA said the average price for a gallon of gas has reached a record high of $4.173. The national average gas price is up by nearly $0.11 a gallon from just yesterday and up more than $0.55 a gallon from a week ago.

The higher gas prices are likely to weigh on consumer spending in other areas, potentially leading to an economic slowdown even as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising interest rates.