Thai Stock Market May Test Support At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,620-point plateau and it's tipped to open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be soft on concerns about interest rates and the global economy. The European and U.S. markets were down again and the Asian markets, despite being badly oversold at this point, are expected to at least open in the red.

The SET finished modestly lower on Monday following losses in most sectors, especially the financials and energy companies.

For the day, the index shed 10.46 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 1,621.25 after trading between 1,615.32 and 1,627.95. Volume was 17.645 billion shares worth 71.260 billion baht. There were 1,495 decliners and 386 gainers, with 356 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rallied 2.85 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.68 percent, Banpu plunged 4.48 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.07 percent, Bangkok Expressway dropped 1.06 percent, B. Grimm jumped 1.45 percent, CP All Public sank 0.88 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods slipped 0.40 percent, Energy Absolute weakened 1.12 percent, Gulf fell 0.47 percent, IRPC tumbled 1.85 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.32 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.85 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 2.64 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.16 percent, Siam Commercial Bank and SCG Packaging both stumbled 1.38 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.83 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.81 percent, TTB Bank tanked 3.15 percent and Asset World, Bangkok Dusit Medical, BTS Group, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be negative as the major averages were unable to hold early support on Monday, accelerating to the downside as the day progressed.

The Dow tumbled 329.60 points or 1.11 percent to finish at 29.260.81, while the NASDAQ dropped 65.00 points or 0.60 percent to close at 10.802.92 and the S&P 500 fell 38.19 points or 1.03 percent to end at 3,655.04.

A continued surge in the value of the U.S. dollar contributed to the weakness on Wall Street, with the greenback hitting a record high versus the British pound.

Concerns about the outlook for the global economy also continued to weigh on the markets amid worries the increases in interest rates around the world will lead to a recession. The Fed and other central banks have indicated they plan to continue raising rates in an effort to combat stubbornly elevated inflation.

The extended weakness on Wall Street also came amid a spike in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note soaring to a 12-year high.

Crude oil prices tumbled to near nine-month lows on Monday, extending losses from the previous session amid rising concerns about the outlook for fuel demand due to increasing possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $2.03 or 2.6 percent at $76.71 a barrel.