Thai Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak On Tuesday

The Thai stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slinking almost 8 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,675-point plateau and it may further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates, as well as profit taking among some of the more overbought bourses. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index slipped 4/64 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 1,673.87 after trading between 1,671.08 and 1,685.78. Volume was 25.860 billion shares worth 73.653 billion baht. There were 1,178 decliners and 618 gainers, with 507 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.86 percent, while Asset World retreated 1.20 percent, Banpu sank 0.90 percent, Bangkok Bank tanked 2.17 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.98 percent¸ BTS Group added 0.55 percent, CP All Public fell 0.37 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods declined 1.23 percent, Energy Absolute climbed 1.13 percent, Gulf shed 0.51 percent, IRPC lost 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank stumbled 1.86 percent, Krung Thai Bank slumped 1.46 percent, Krung Thai Card slid 0.40 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.69 percent, PTT Global Chemical skidded 0.99 percent, SCG Packaging tanked 2.14 percent, Siam Commercial Bank plunged 3.38 percent, Siam Concrete was down 0.79 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.22 percent, TTB Bank weakened 0.76 percent and Thailand Airport, Bangkok Expressway, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages spent most of Monday morning bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before moving solidly lower in the afternoon and finishing that way.

The Dow tumbled 201.94 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 34,552.99, while the NASDAQ sank 55.38 points or 0.40 percent to close at 13,838.46 and the S&P 500 fell 1.94 points or 0.04 percent to end at 4,461.18.

The lower close on Wall Street came following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested the central bank might raise interest rates more aggressively if inflation remains too high.

The pullback on Wall Street also reflected profit taking as lingering concerns about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and higher oil prices inspired traders to cash in on last week’s gains.

Crude oil prices hit a two-week high on Monday amid concerns over the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and on expectations the EU might impose a ban on Russian oil. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $7.42 or 7.1 percent at $112.12 a barrel.