Losing Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 8 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1m615-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on trade concerns emanating from protests in China. The European and U.S. markets were solidly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index dipped 3.93 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,616.91 after trading between 1,612.56 and 1,620.78. Volume was 13 billion shares worth 38.679 billion baht. There were 1,116 decliners and 455 gainers, with 544 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport dipped 0.34 percent, while Asset World retreated 1.57 percent, Banpu tanked 2.31 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.35 percent, B. Grimm soared 2.74 percent, BTS Group added 0.62 percent, CP All Public slid 0.40 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Krung Thai Card both lost 0.42 percent, PTT declined 1.48 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 1.34 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete improved 0.30 percent, Thai Oil skidded 0.45 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.72 percent and Advanced Info, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway, Energy Absolute, Gulf, IRPC, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT Global Chemical, SCG Packaging and True Corporation all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and the losses accelerated as the day progressed, closing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 497.57 points or 1.45 percent to finish at 33,849.46, while the NASDAQ tumbled 176.86 points or 1.58 percent to close at 11,049.50 and the S&P 500 slumped 62.18 points or 1.54 percent to end at 3,963.94.

Concerns about developments in China fueled the substantial pullback on Wall Street, as widespread protests against the Beijing's zero-Covid restriction policy broke out over the weekend.

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next month's Federal Reserve meeting.

While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next month, the minutes of the central bank's early November meeting suggested some officials think rates will be to be raised higher than previously anticipated.

Crude oil prices shook off early weakness and moved higher on Monday amid speculation that OPEC will seriously consider a new production cut at its meeting later this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January gained $0.96 or 1.3 percent at $77.24 a barrel.