Higher Open Predicted For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, tumbling more than 40 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,550-point plateau and it’s expected to halt its slide on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting likely amid optimism for a strong economic rebound. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply lower on Wednesday with broadly based losses – particularly from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index plunged 33.91 points or 2.14 percent to finish at 1,549.22 after trading between 1,547.35 and 1,583.27. Volume was 40.512 billion shares worth 127.109 billion baht. There were 1,462 decliners and 372 gainers, with 223 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.17 percent, while Thailand Airport tanked 3.23 percent, Asset World tumbled 2.94 percent, Bangkok Asset Management retreated 1.46 percent, Bangkok Bank declined 2.88 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.92 percent, Bangkok Expressway surrendered 1.88 percent, BTS Group sank 1.68 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 1.72 percent, Gulf lost 2.17 percent, Kasikornbank plunged 4.55 percent, Krung Thai Bank fell 0.88 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 3.28 percent, PTT slid 1.25 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dipped 1.26 percent, PTT Global Chemical was down 1.48 percent, SCG Packaging sank 3.14 percent, Siam Commercial Bank plummeted 4.76 percent, TMB Bank dropped 1.71 percent and Siam Concrete was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street shows a positive bias as stocks fluctuated on Wednesday before ending on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The Dow gained 97.31 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 34,230.34, while the NASDAQ lost 51.08 points or 0.37 percent to end at 13,582.42 and the S&P 500 rose 2.93 points or 0.07 percent to close at 4,167.59.

Strong gains by Dow Inc. (DOW), Chevron (CVX) and Merck (MRK) helped lift the Dow to a new record closing high.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector job growth accelerated in April but missed expectations. Also, the Institute for Supply Management noted an unexpected slowdown in the pace of U.S. service sector activity last month.

Crude oil futures dipped slightly on Wednesday as traders weighed global energy demand amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases in Asia. A sharp decline in U.S. crude inventories limited the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June eased $0.06 at $65.63 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see April results for its business confidence and consumer confidence indexes later today; in March, their scores were 50.1 and 48.5, respectively.