Thai Shares Tipped To Open Under Water Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 15 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,160-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative after U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff announcement. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the food, finance, property, resources and technology sectors. For the day, the index dropped 10.88 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 1,161.81 after trading between 1,156.39 and 1,164.29. Volume was 8.465 billion shares worth 8.465 billion baht. There were 294 decliners and 177 gainers, with 192 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.36 percent, while Thailand Airport skidded 1.27 percent, Asset World tumbled 1.64 percent, Banpu dropped 0.93 percent, Bangkok Bank tanked 2.36 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.89 percent, Bangkok Expressway crashed 1.83 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.99 percent, BTS Group gained 0.96 percent, CP All Public added 0.49 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.25 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 1.90 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.52 percent, Krung Thai Bank plunged 3.29 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.07 percent, PTT Oil & Retail improved 0.81 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 2.12 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 4.71 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.78 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.40 percent, Siam Concrete shed 0.67 percent, Thai Oil surrendered 1.96 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.68 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.01 percent and Gulf and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the day, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 1,679.39 points or 3.98 percent to finish at 40,545.93, while the NASDAQ crashed 1,050.44 points or 5.97 percent to close at 1,6550.61 and the S&P 500 tumbled 274.45 points or 4.84 percent to end at 5,396.52.

The nosedive on Wall Street came after Trump delivered a highly anticipated speech on Wednesday outlining his plan to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trade partners.

Canada and the European Union are also preparing countermeasures, leading to concerns about a trade war that could fuel inflation and damage the global economy.

Adding to the negative sentiment, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. service sector growth slowed by more than anticipated in March.

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Thursday after the U.S. implemented its tariffs, while additional selling pressure came after OPEC said it would speed up previously announced increases in output. Crude for May delivery plummeted $4.76 or 6.6 percent to $66.95 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release March data for consumer prices later today, with overall inflation expected to rise 1.09 percent on year - up from 1.08 percent in February, Core CPI is called higher by an annual 1.00 percent, up from 0.99 percent in the previous month.