Mild Selling Pressure Tipped For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 50 points or 3.1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,530-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly lower and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the technology, food, service, energy and industrial sectors, while the financials were soft.

For the day, the index advanced 14.35 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 1,529.24 after trading between 1,491.12 and 1,531.01. Volume was 18.042 billion shares worth 55.537 billion baht. There were 248 gainers and 246 decliners, with 155 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.95 percent, while Thailand Airport accelerated 2.49 percent, Banpu spiked 3.11 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.89 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.60 percent, B. Grimm added 0.68 percent, BTS Group increased 0.68 percent, CP All Public rose 0.40 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 2.71 percent, Gulf strengthened 1.58 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.38 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.96 percent, PTT Exploration and Production sank 0.68 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 4.90 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.49 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 0.88 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.68 percent, True Corporation skyrocketed 9.45 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.66 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, SCG Packaging, Krung Thai Bank, Asset World and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly headed south. They staged a modest recovery as the day progressed, although the Dow never managed to escape from negative territory.

The Dow dropped 140.05 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,286.58, while the NASDAQ climbed 62.88 points or 0.50 percent to close at 12,720.78 and the S&P 500 rose 0.65 points or 002 percent to end at 4,192.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors largely refrained from making significant moves as they awaited updates on debt ceiling negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which so far have not found a resolution.

Treasury Secretary Yellen said on Sunday that the likelihood of the Treasury paying all U.S. bills by June 15 is getting smaller each day.

Concerns over the outlook for interest rates also weighed as Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that he backed two more increases.

Crude oil prices pared early losses and settled higher on Monday, amid hopes the U.S. lawmakers will reach a debt ceiling deal soon and help the nation avoid a default. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June settled at $71.99 a barrel, up $0.44 or 0.6 percent on the expiration day.