Rally Likely To Flame Out On Thursday For Thai Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,635-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index added 7.45 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,633.36 after trading between 1,628.17 and 1,638.88. Volume was 14.173 billion shares worth 57.303 billion baht. There were 794 gainers and 644 decliners, with 590 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World advanced 0.80 percent, while Banpu improved 0.74 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.69 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.89 percent, BTS Group lost 0.60 percent, CP All Public climbed 1.15 percent, Gulf added 0.47 percent, IRPC gained 0.68 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.05 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.56 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.26 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rose 0.41 percent, PTT sank 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.57 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 2.20 percent, SCG Packaging gathered 0.87 percent, Siam Commercial Bank perked 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete jumped 1.51 percent, Thai Oil rallied 0.92 percent, TTB Bank spiked 1.47 percent and Advanced Info, Thailand Airport, Bangkok Expressway, B. Grimm, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Energy Absolute and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and stayed that way before tumbling after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The Dow dropped 142.29 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,966.35, while the NASDAQ sank 85.93 points or 0.76 percent to close at 11,170.89 and the S&P 500 lost 24.33 points or 0.61 percent to end at 3,995.32.

The lower close on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to slow the pace of interest rate increases but still signaled further rate hikes ahead.

After raising interest rates by 75 basis points at four consecutive meetings, the Fed announced its decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points to a target range of 4.25 to 4.50 percent.

But the central bank reiterated that it anticipates ongoing increases in rates will be appropriate. The economic projections provided along with the announcement now suggest the Fed expects rates to be raised higher than forecast in September.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, lifted by an upward revision in demand forecast by the International Energy Agency due to the shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $77.28 a barrel.