Continued Consolidation Anticipated For Thai Shares

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market turned lower again on Monday, one session after halting the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,625-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with oil and technology stocks expected to weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index slumped 13.91 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 1,623.38 after trading between 1,618.28 and 1,633.76. Volume was 23.029 billion shares worth 64.877 billion baht. There were 1,367 decliners and 461 gainers, with 441 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info and PTT Exploration and Production both dipped 0.26 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.66 percent, Asset World retreated 1.64 percent, Banpu sank 0.78 percent, Bangkok Bank declined 1.37 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tanked 2.40 percent, Bangkok Expressway climbed 1.06 percent, B. Grimm stumbled 1.34 percent, BTS Group lost 0.60 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.99 percent, Energy Absolute slid 0.76 percent, Gulf plunged 2.37 percent, IRPC fell 0.65 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 2.36 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.13 percent, Krung Thai Card weakened 0.84 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slipped 0.81 percent, PTT plummeted 2.16 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.52 percent, SCG Packaging gained 0.44 percent, Siam Commercial Bank surrendered 1.41 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.16 percent, Thai Oil improved 0.45 percent, True Corporation eased 0.40 percent, TTB Bank was down 0.74 percent and CP All Public was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday, bounced higher in the afternoon but then a late swoon sent them all into the red at the close.

The Dow dropped 211.16 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 33,536.70, while the NASDAQ slumped 127.11 points or 1.12 percent to end at 11,196.22 and the S&P 500 lost 35.68 points or 0.89 percent to close at 3,957.25.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following last week's rally.

The lower close on the day came despite comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard that added to optimism about a slower pace of rate hikes.

Crude oil prices slumped Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China, a downward revision in demand growth forecast by OPEC and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $3.09 or 3.5 percent at $85.87 a barrel.