Thai Shares May See Renewed Consolidation On Thursday

The Thai stock market on Wednesday snapped the six-day losing streak in which it had plunged almost 60 points or 4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,545-point plateau although it may head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the health of the financial sectors, although support from technology stocks should limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the service and technology sectors, while the financials were down and the resource stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index rose 3.75 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,543.95 after trading between 1,532.08 and 1,549.81. Volume was 12.255 billion shares worth 42.482 billion baht. There were 691 decliners and 637 gainers, with 458 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info spiked 1.92 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 1.04 percent, Asset World advanced 0.94 percent, Banpu plunged 2.73 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.29 percent, BTS Group surged 3.31 percent, CP All Public gathered 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.49 percent, Energy Absolute strengthened 1.45 percent, Gulf rose 0.50 percent, Kasikornbank improved 0.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.56 percent, Krung Thai Card gained 0.48 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.93 percent, PTT declined 1.61 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plummeted 3.21 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.21 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 1.16 percent, Siam Commercial Bank jumped 1.96 percent, Siam Concrete shed 0.66 percent, Thai Oil tanked 4.08 percent, True Corporation accelerated 1.95 percent, TTB Bank soared 2.80 percent and B. Grimm, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, but the Dow and S&P 500 quickly fell into the red while the NASDAQ stayed positive throughout the day.

The Dow stumbled 228.96 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 33,301.87, while the NASDAQ gained 55.19 points or 0.47 percent to close at 11,854.35 and the S&P 500 fell 15.64 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,055.99.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat tech earnings against renewed concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

The rebound by the NASDAQ reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Microsoft (MSFT) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), among others.

On the other hand, shares of First Republic (FRC) extended the steep drop seen in the previous session, which came after the regional bank reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter, renewing concerns about turmoil in the banking sector.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March amid a substantial rebound in orders for transportation equipment.

Crude oil futures ended sharply lower Wednesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand dragged down oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June were down $2.77 or 3.6 percent to settle at $74.30 a barrel.

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