Losing Streak Likely To Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long weekend break for King Bhumibol Memorial Day, The Thai stock market had moved lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 25 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,560-point plateau and it's likely to extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising fears of recession and higher interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and cement stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 1.90 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,560.78 after trading between 1,557.74 and 1,567.03. Volume was 17.408 billion shares worth 47.613 billion baht. There were 909 decliners and 671 gainers, with 564 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dipped 0.27 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.70 percent, Asset World sank 0.87 percent, Banpu advanced 0.79 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.10 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.86 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.56 percent, B. Grimm lost 0.82 percent, BTS Group strengthened 1.27 percent, Energy Absolute gathered 1.14 percent, IRPC tumbled 1.97 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.35 percent, SCG Packaging dropped 0.96 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete slumped 1.28 percent, Thai Oil declined 1.92 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.83 percent and CP All Public, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly nosedived into the red and finished with deep losses.

The Dow tumbled 403.87 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 29,634.83, while the NASDAQ plunged 327.81 points or 3.08 percent to close at 10,321.39 and the S&P 500 sank 86.84 points or 2.37 percent to end at 3,583.07.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.2 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 3.1 percent and the S&P lost 1.5 percent.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street extended the volatility on Thursday, when stocks recovered from an early sell-off to close sharply higher. But renewed selling pressure was generated by a report from the University of Michigan showing a rebound in inflation expectations in October.

Traders also reacted to earnings news from several big-name financial companies as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) reported better than expected revenues, while Morgan Stanley (MS) missed estimates.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Friday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for energy demand amid the rising possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $3.50 or 3.9 percent at $85.61 a barrel.