Losing Streak Likely To Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,670-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index shed 10.15 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 1,670.34 after trading between 1,667.79 and 1,684.75. Volume was 20.341 billion shares worth 60.528 billion baht. There were 1,214 decliners and 381 gainers, with 404 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slid 0.51 percent, while Thailand Airport improved 0.68 percent, Asset World stumbled 1.71 percent, Banpu surrendered 1.79 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bangkok Expressway climbed 0.52 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.23 percent, BTS Group gave away 0.61 percent, Energy Absolute slumped 1.66 percent, Gulf lost 0.93 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.58 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 0.45 percent, PTT advanced 0.77 percent, PTT Global Chemical increased 0.50 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.40 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.97 percent, Thai Oil added 0.44 percent, TTB Bank sank 0.70 percent and Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Card, Siam Concrete, PTT Exploration and Production, True Corporation, CP All Public and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 207.68 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 33,949.01, while the NASDAQ plunged 203.27 points or 1.68 percent to close at 11,910.52 and the S&P 500 sank 46.14 points or 1.11 percent to end at 4,117.86.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in Tuesday's gains, which came amid a positive reaction to comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell acknowledged recent indications of easing inflation but noted that the disinflationary process has a long way to go and cautioned further interest rate hikes could be needed.

The positive sentiment generated in reaction to Powell's comments was partly offset by remarks by New York Fed President John Williams, who said interest rates may need to be kept at an elevated level for a few years to bring down inflation.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday, extending gains to a third straight session amid hopes of higher demand from China. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $1.33 or 1.7 percent at $78.47 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see January results for its consumer confidence index later today; in December, the index score was 49.7.