Lower Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Monday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,380-point plateau and it may open in the red again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of inflation data that may affect the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the finance, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index shed 6.19 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 1,380.23 after trading between 1,379.72 and 1,387.61. Volume was 13.413 billion shares worth 33.551 billion baht. There were 243 decliners and 216 gainers, with 196 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport slumped 1.50 percent, while Asset World skidded 1.04 percent, Banpu dropped 0.86 percent, Bangkok Bank tanked 2.82 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.86 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 0.62 percent, B. Grimm soared 2.63 percent, BTS Group increased 0.98 percent, CP All Public stumbled 1.73 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rallied 2.73 percent, Gulf and PTT Oil & Retail both gained 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.21 percent, Krung Thai Bank declined 1.25 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.13 percent, PTT sank 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 2.30 percent, SCG Packaging jumped 1.77 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.44 percent, Thai Oil tumbled 1.74 percent, True Corporation added 0.67 percent and TTB Bank, PTT Global Chemical, Siam Concrete, Advanced Info and Energy Absolute were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow snuck barely above the line late in the day to finish slightly higher.

The Dow added 46.97 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,769.66, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.84 points or 0.41 percent to close at 16,019.27 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.75 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,117.94.

The weakness on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of key inflation data later today, when the Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched report on consumer price inflation for February.

The inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, with Federal Reserve officials saying they need "greater confidence" that inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting next week, the data could impact expectations regarding when the central bank will eventually lower rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand from China and on caution ahead key U.S. consumer price inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $0.08 or 0.1 percent at $77.93 a barrel, settling lower for the third consecutive session.