Thai Shares May Open Under Water On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,580-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative as hostilities in the Middle East tick higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asin bourses are likely to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index climbed 22.46 points or 1.44 percent to finish at 1,584.14 after trading between 1,570.48 and 1,587.42. Volume was 10.746 billion shares worth 70.506 billion baht. There were 253 decliners and 188 gainers, with 216 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.28 percent, while Thailand Airport slumped 1.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.55 percent, Bangkok Expressway jumped 1.94 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.70 percent, CP All Public gained 0.55 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.08 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.63 percent, Gulf skidded 1.16 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.50 percent, PTT Oil & Retail improved 0.81 percent, PTT shed 0.68 percent, PTT Exploration and Production contracted 1.70 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.19 percent, SCG Packaging tumbled 1.96 percent, Siam Commercial Bank declined 1.44 percent, Thai Oil plunged 2.17 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, while Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, Siam Concrete, Asset World, Banpu and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened higher but quickly tailed off into the red, although the Dow managed to creep back above water by the end of the day.

The Dow added 86.10 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 50,872.11, while the NASDAQ slumped 250.84 points or 0.97 percent to end at 25,678.82 and the S&P 500 slipped 19.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 7,386.65.

The notable pullback by the NASDAQ came amid renewed weakness among tech stocks, which had regained some ground on Monday following last Friday's sell-off.

Semiconductor stocks helped lead the sector lower before rebounding, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbling by 1.9 percent, while computer hardware, networking and software stocks also moved significantly lower.

In economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing existing home sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than anticipated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices plunged on Tuesday after Israel and Iran halted their exchange of attacks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.11 or 3.41 percent at $88.19 per barrel.

However, sentiment took a hit after the markets closed as the U.S. launched a fresh attack on Iran in response to the loss of a helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.