Thai Bourse May Stop The Bleeding On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has ticked lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 30 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,250-point plateau although it may find traction on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support expected from the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the food, finance, resource and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the consumer, industrial and property stocks. For the day, the index dipped 1.67 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 1,252.73 after trading between 1,252.72 and 1,261.44. Volume was 6.203 billion shares worth 41.791 billion baht. There were 227 decliners and 220 gainers, with 201 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.32 percent, while Thailand Airport gathered 0.61 percent, Asset World gained 0.52 percent, Banpu slid 0.47 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.63 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slumped 1.06 percent, B. Grimm cratered 8.11 percent, CP All Public increased 0.58 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plunged 4.65 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.73 percent, Gulf improved 0.62 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.80 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 0.91 percent, Krung Thai Card soared 4.63 percent, PTT Oil & Retail strengthened 1.55 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 4.71 percent, SCG Packaging added 0.64 percent, Siam Commercial Bank skidded 1.15 pecent, Siam Concrete jumped 1.64 percent, Thai Oil rallied 2.10 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.88 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.52 percent and PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged. The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly turned higher and accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow advanced 202.86 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 26,448.27, while the NASDAQ surged 598.92 points or 2.69 percent to end at 22,872.01 and the S&P 500 climbed 102.13 points r 1.55 percent to close at 6,705.12.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels after concerns about valuations and the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of last week.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated amid signs of progress toward an agreement to end the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine.

Semiconductor stocks led the way higher, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index soaring by 4.4 percent. Computer hardware and networking stocks are also seeing substantial strength, contributing to the surge by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday, supported by a positive economic outlook and more demand growth. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.73 or 1.26 percent at $58.79 per barrel. Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release October trade data sometime this week; in September, imports were up 17.2 percent and exports rose 19.0 percent for a trade surplus of $1.280 billion.