Renewed Selling Pressure Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market inched higher again on Thursday, one day after halting the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,625-point plateau although it may head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative 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 barely higher on Thursday as gains from the financials were offset by weakness from the energy producers.

For the day, the index perked 0.60 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,625.62 after trading between 1,619.99 and 1,628.78. Volume was 18.415 billion shares worth 52.199 billion baht. There were 990 decliners and 595 gainers, with 566 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.52 percent, while Thailand Airport slid 0.33 percent, Asset World sank 0.82 percent, Banpu and PTT Exploration and Production both advanced 0.80 percent, Bangkok Bank gained 0.69 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.53 percent, B. Grimm fell 0.72 percent, BTS Group slipped 0.60 percent, CP All Public declined 0.41 percent, Energy Absolute eased 0.25 percent, Gulf retreated 1.45 percent, IRPC slumped 0.62 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.70 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.57 percent, PTT weakened 0.69 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.56 percent, Siam Commercial Bank strengthened 1.41 percent, Thai Oil rose 0.45 percent, True Corporation was down 0.40 percent, TTB Bank improved 1.46 percent and Bangkok Dusit Medical, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Card, PTT Oil & Retail, SCG Packaging and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 146.51 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 32,001.25, while the NASDAQ tumbled 181.86 points or 1.73 percent to close at 10,342.94 and the S&P 500 lost 39.80 points or 1.06 percent to end at 3,719.89.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the fourth straight 75-basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, and comments from the central bank Chair Jerome Powell that signaled more interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data and looked ahead to the crucial non-farm payroll data, due on Friday.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap widened to a three-month high in September, while the Labor Department said jobless claims declined last week and the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected.

Crude oil prices settled sharply lower Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand. The dollar's sharp uptick following hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve also weighed on crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.83 or 2 percent at $88.17 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release October data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 6.0 percent on year for overall inflation and 3.2 percent on year for core CPI. In September, overall inflation was up an annual 6.41 percent and core CPI rose 3.12 percent.