Thai Stock Market May Extend Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,620-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with technology, semiconductor and oil stocks expected to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the energy companies and electronics were offset by support from the financial sector.

For the day, the index sank 9.40 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 1,619.98 after trading between 1,616.82 and 1,629.06. Volume was 17.495 billion shares worth 61.526 billion baht. There were 1,208 decliners and 486 gainers, with 524 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport and Asset World both declined 1.65 percent, while Bangkok Bank shed 0.70 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical plunged 3.20 percent, Bangkok Expressway skidded 1.05 percent, B. Grimm tumbled 2.01 percent, BTS Group tanked 2.40 percent, CP All Public sank 0.81 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 4.06 percent, Gulf surrendered 2.88 percent, IRPC retreated 1.31 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.35 percent, KCE Electronics lost 0.51 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.57 percent, Krung Thai Card gained 0.43 percent, PTT Oil & Retail fell 0.41 percent, PTT Exploration and Production spiked 2.17 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.52 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 1.15 percent, True Corporation was down 0.41 percent, TTB Bank advanced 0.74 percent and Advanced Info, Banpu, Charoen Pokphand Foods, PTT, SCG Packaging and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 stayed in the red all day, while the Dow bounced back and forth across the unchanged line but also finished lower.

The Dow eased 39.09 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,553.83, while the NASDAQ tumbled 174.75 points or 1.54 percent to close at 11,183.66 and the S&P 500 sank 32.94 points or 0.83 percent to end at 3,958.79.

The weakness on Wall Street came as treasuries moved sharply higher, extending the upward move in the previous session and affecting technology stocks in particular.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a significant increase in U.S. retail sales in October. Also, the Federal Reserve noted an unexpected decline in U.S. industrial production last month. In addition, the National Association of Home Builders reported a continued decrease in U.S. homebuilder confidence in November.

Crude oil prices slipped Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and the resumption of Russian oil shipments to Hungary. Oil prices fell despite data showing a larger-than-expected drop in crude inventories in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $1.33 or 1.5 percent at $85.59 a barrel.