Thai Shares Expected To Open Under Water On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 20 points or 1.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,385-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes that the FOMC will trim interest rates at next month's meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The SET finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the energy, industrial, property and technology sectors.

For the day, the index eased 0.15 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,383.93 after trading between 1,379.86 and 1,389.67. Volume was 26.838 billion shares worth 41.273 billion baht. There were 246 gainers and 227 decliners, with 186 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.90 percent, while Thailand Airport improved 1.59 percent, Banpu stumbled 1.57 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.36 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway slumped 0.68 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.89 percent, BTS Group soared 2.56 percent, CP All Public gained 0.46 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 1.24 percent, Gulf shed 0.57 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.13 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 0.57 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.33 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.44 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.45 percent, Thai Oil added 0.46 percent, True Corporation sank 0.81 percent, TTB Bank surged 4.47 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, SCG Packaging, Asset World and PTT were unchanged.

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

The Dow tumbled 274.30 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 38,380.12, while the NASDAQ shed 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to end at 15,597.68 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.80 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,942.81.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally amid fading optimism about the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates next month during an interview over the weekend. Powell suggested the strength of the U.S. economy even amidst elevated rates will allow the Fed to proceed carefully.

Stocks fell to their lows of the session as the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth accelerated by more than expected in January, further dampening hopes for a rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.