Thai Stock Market Expected To Open In The Red On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after ending the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,680-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished barely lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers. For the day, the index eased 0.08 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 1,681.22 after trading between 1,676.51 and 1,685.24. Volume was 16.592 billion shares worth 54.970 billion baht. There were 1,030 decliners and 544 gainers, with 546 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info retreated 1.25 percent, while Thailand Airport fell 0.33 percent, Asset World sank 0.82 percent, Banpu tanked 2.44 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.92 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 0.83 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 2.00 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.62 percent, BTS Group skidded 1.16 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods lost 0.42 percent, Energy Absolute improved 0.75 percent, Gulf slid 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank weakened 1.02 percent, Krung Thai Bank slipped 0.56 percent, Krung Thai Card added 0.44 percent, PTT Oil & Retail was down 0.44 percent, PTT Exploration and Production eased 0.29 percent, PTT Global Chemical slumped 0.99 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gave away 0.92 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.18 percent, Thai Oil surrendered 0.83 percent, True Corporation lost 0.41 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.38 percent and CP All Public, PTT and SCG Packaging were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel. Closer to home, Thailand will see December results for imports, exports, trade balance and current account later today. In November, imports were up 8.2 percent on year and exports were down an annual 5.5 percent for a trade surplus of $0.50 billion. The current account showed a deficit of $0.400 billion.