Thai Stock Market Has Flat Lead For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost a dozen points or 0.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,410-point plateau and it figures to see little movement on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is rudderless amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the food, finance and service sectors were offset by weakness from the industrial, energy and technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 3.47 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,411.77 after trading between 1,406.95 and 1,417.16. Volume was 10.479 billion shares worth 38.072 billion baht. There were 273 gainers and 186 decliners, with 185 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info strengthened 1.36 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.36 percent, Asset World improved 1.12 percent, Banpu retreated 1.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.94 percent, B. Grimm soared 2.63 percent, BTS Group slumped 0.68 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.06 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.68 percent, Kasikornbank collected 1.14 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 0.54 percent, PTT sank 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.53 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.03 percent, SCG Packaging lost 0.68 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dipped 0.25 percent, Siam Concrete spiked 2.05 percent, Thai Oil dropped 1.05 percent, True Corporation plummeted 4.13 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.62 percent and Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, Gulf, CP All Public and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher, quickly dipped into the red and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 40.33 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 34,112.27, while the NASDAQ rose 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to close at 13,650.41 and the S&P 500 perked 4.40 points or 0.10 percent to end at 4,382.78.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves following recent strength in the markets.

Amid the focus on the outlook for interest rates, traders kept a close eye on remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell - but he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy, focusing instead on praise for the work done by the Fed's Division of Research and Statistics.

Traders also shrugged off results of the Treasury Department's auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes, which attracted average demand.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December lost $2.04 or about 2.6 percent at $75.33 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see October results for its consumer confidence index later today; in September, the index score was 58.7.