Thai Shares Expected To Return To The Downside

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Makha Bucha Day, the Thai stock market had moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 85 points or 6.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,280-point plateau and it figures to open under pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the consumer, food, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 13.48 points or 1.06 percent to finish at 1,283.97 after trading between 1,269.58 and 1,285.98. Volume was 7.035 billion shares worth 39.035 billion baht. There were 378 gainers and 139 decliners, with 149 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.35 percent, while Thailand Airport advanced 0.92 percent, Asset World spiked 2.04 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical added 1.33 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 1.53 percent, B. Grimm and True Corporation both dropped 0.79 percent, BTS Group was up 2.50 percent, CP All Public soared 1.50 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.95 percent, Gulf slumped 1.31 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.63 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.69 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.48 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 2.70 percent, PTT improved 0.83 percent, PTT Exploration and Production accelerated 1.61 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 4.08 percent, RSXYZ skyrocketed 9.26 percent, SCG Packaging stumbled 2.56 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.79 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.03 percent, Thai Oil increased 1.24 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.02 percent and Banpu and Energy Absolute were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower and largely stayed that way, although the NASDAQ peeked up into the green by the close.

The Dow dropped 225.09 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 44,368.56, while the NASDAQ perked 6.10 points or 0.03 percent to close at 19,649.95 and the S&P 500 lost 16.53 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,051.97.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in January.

The hotter than expected inflation data increased speculation the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates on hold for a prolonged period.

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.95 or about 2.66 percent at $71.37 a barrel, falling after three successive days of gains.