Renewed Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after halting the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 40 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,595-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting expected after brutal selling over the past week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the energy producers were mitigated by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index shed 9.49 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 1,593.54 after trading between 1,589.28 and 1,606.31. Volume was 20.176 billion shares worth 68.928 billion baht. There were 1,105 decliners and 569 gainers, with 519 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info surrendered 1.44 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.37 percent, Banpu sank 0.75 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.49 percent, Bangkok Expressway rallied 2.29 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.74 percent, BTS Group slumped 1.18 percent, CP All Public retreated 1.20 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.95 percent, Energy Absolute dropped 0.88 percent, Gulf fell 0.54 percent, IRPC lost 0.58 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.69 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.64 percent, Krung Thai Card plunged 2.51 percent, PTT declined 1.37 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.59 percent, Siam Commercial Bank climbed 1.40 percent, True Corporation dipped 0.43 percent, TTB Bank improved 1.61 percent and PTT Global Chemical, PTT Oil & Retail and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened solidly higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the day, finishing near session highs.

The Dow climbed 303.70 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 30,668.53, while the NASDAQ surged 270.81 points or 2.50 percent to end at 11,099.15 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.51 points or 1.46 percent to close at 3,789.99.

The rally on Wall Street came even as the Federal Reserve announced the biggest increase in interest rates in almost 30 years. The Fed raised the target rate for the federal funds rate by 75 basis points to 1.50 to 1.75 percent, marking the biggest rate hike since 1994.

The widely expected move by the Fed comes as a recent report from the Labor Department showed consumer price inflation at the fastest annual rate in 40 years. Citing its goals of maximum employment and inflation at a rate of 2 percent over the longer run, the Fed also indicated that further rate hikes are likely to be appropriate.

In economic news, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected decrease in U.S. retail sales in May, while a separate report showed U.S. import prices increased by less than expected. Also, the National Association of Home Builders said homebuilder confidence fell to its lowest level since June 2020.

Crude oil prices slumped on Wednesday after data showed a jump in oil inventories in the U.S. last week, and the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by a sharp 0.75 percent. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped by $2.21 or 1.8 percent to $116.72 a barrel.