Steady Start Seen For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, tumbling more than 40 points or 3 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,365-point plateau although it may find traction on Thursday.

The global forecast for thew Asian markets is mixed to lower, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply lower on Wednesday with damage across the board, especially among the technology, service and finance sectors.

For the day, the index plummeted 29.44 points or 2.11 percent to finish at 1,366.94 after trading between 1.363.44 and 1,380.12. Volume was 17.398 billion shares worth 62.396 billion baht. There were 481 decliners and 62 gainers, with 121 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.24 percent, while Thailand Airport weakened 1.87 percent, Asset World dropped 1.79 percent, Banpu and Gulf both surrendered 3.45 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.69 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 1.80 percent, B. Grimm tanked 5.41 percent, CP All Public slumped 3.51 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plunged 4.86 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 6.94 percent, Kasikornbank shed 1.19 percent, Krung Thai Bank plummeted 5.26 percent, Krung Thai Card declined 3.80 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 1.09 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rallied 3.80 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 1.23 percent, SCG Packaging sank 1.55 percent, Siam Commercial Bank cratered 8.23 percent, Siam Concrete tumbled 3.09 percent, Thai Oil eased 0.42 percent, TTB Bank retreated 3.83 percent and True Corporation, PTT, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but quickly turned lower, spending most of the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow shed 45.66 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 37,753.31, while the NASDAQ tumbled 181.88 points or 1.15 percent to end at 15,683.37 and the S&P 500 sank 29.20 points or 0.58 percent to close at 5,022.21.

The lower close on Wall Street came on concerns about the outlook for interest rates following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Weakness among technology stocks weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) came under pressure, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also slumped.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, adding to modest losses in the two previous sessions after data showed a surge in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery plunged $2.67 or 3.1 percent to $82.69 a barrel.