Thai Stock Market May Extend Thursday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the six-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 85 points or 5.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,500-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on surging oil prices and AI concerns. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the industrial, resource and technology stocks were offset by support from the financial, property and service companies.

For the day, the index slipped 4.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,497.99 after trading between 1,487.21 and 1,499.24. Volume was 12.002 billion shares worth 86.950 billion baht. There were 280 gainers and 156 decliners, with 206 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but trended sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plummeted 1,833.06 points or 3.44 percent to finish at 51,523.06, while the NASDAQ crashed 1,421.52 points or 5.52 percent to close at 24,315.00 and the S&P 500 tumbled 334.89 points or 4.36 percent to end at 7,353.73.

The sharp pullback on Wall Street came amid a renewed sell-off in the tech sector, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ plummeting into contraction territory on concerns about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence trade amid expected tighter regulation.

Semiconductor stocks showed a particularly steep drop, resulting in a 12.3 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Considerable weakness was is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 10 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted an unexpected decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week; the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on October's employment situation later today.

Crude oil prices surged on Thursday as investors look for the next steps to resolve the U.S.-Iran standoff - either through diplomacy or hostility. West Texas Intermediate crude for December was up $2.29 or 2.60 percent at $90.41 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see October numbers for overall consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.2 percent on year - up from 2.82 percent in September. Core CPI is seen higher by an annual 1.6 percent, up from 1.5 percent in the previous month.