Thai Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has ticked lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 5 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,135-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky ahead of key upcoming talks between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource and service sectors. For the day, the index eased 1.19 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,135.24 after trading between 1,132.67 and 1,144.24. Volume was 6.396 billion shares worth 24.061 billion baht. There were 241 decliners and 208 gainers, with 202 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info slipped 0.34 percent, while Banpu lost 0.45 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.36 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 1.87 percent, Bangkok Expressway plummeted 4.63 percent, B. Grimm rallied 2.88 percent, BTS Group sank 0.44 percent, CP All Public was down 0.53 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.95 percent, Energy Absolute soared 4.08 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.34 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.66 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.83 percent, PTT slumped 1.64 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skidded 1.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical stumbled 2.02 percent, SCG Packaging declined 1.23 percent, Siam Concrete tanked 2.46 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.82 percent, True Corporation tumbled 1.60 percent and TTB Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Asset World, Gulf and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is pedestrian as the major averages opened lower on Monday, moved into the green by midday but faded going into the close to end mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 1.11 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 42,761.76, while the NASDAQ added 61.28 points or 0.31 percent to close are 19,591.24 and the S&P 500 perked 5.52 points or 0.09 percent to end at 6,005.88.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders awaited any news of U.S.-China trade talks that in London later today that could help ease trade tensions between the two superpowers. While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.0 percent to its best closing level in over three months.

Crude oil rose on Monday due to hopes sparked by US-China trade talks and that the nearing summer travel season may boost energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery settled at $65.29 per barrel, up 71 cents, the highest since April 3.