Thai Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,550-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative following a downgrade in the United States' credit rating. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the food, finance, packaging and service sectors were mitigated by support from the energy companies.

For the day, the index shed 5.78 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,550.28 after trading between 1,546.23 and 1,562.07. Volume was 16.300 billion shares worth 54.929 billion baht. There were 326 decliners and 144 gainers, with 166 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World plunged 3.57 percent, while Banpu plummeted 3.59 percent, Bangkok Bank tumbled 1.75 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slumped 1.74 percent, Bangkok Expressway skidded 1.10 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.65 percent, BTS Group gave up 1.23 percent, CP All Public sank 0.79 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.48 percent, Energy Absolute surrendered 2.02 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 0.98 percent, Krung Thai Card tanked 2.13 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 0.47 percent, PTT added 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.88 percent, SCG Packaging declined 1.85 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.44 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.31 percent, Thai Oil advanced 0.98 percent, True Corporation weakened 1.38 percent, TTB Bank stumbled 1.74 percent and PTT Global Chemical, Advanced Info, Gulf and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 348.16 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 35,282.52, while the NASDAQ sank 310.47 points or 2.17 percent to end at 13,973.45 and the S&P 500 dropped 63.34 points or 1.38 percent to close at 4,513.39.

The sell-off on Wall Street came after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings unexpectedly downgraded the United States' credit rating. Fitch downgraded the U.S.' long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to AA+ from AAA, citing a "steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years."

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said U.S. private sector employment jumped more than expected in July. But while the report points to continued strength in the U.S. labor market, the data may lead to renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in July.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday amid concerns about outlook for demand, despite data showing a massive drop in crude stockpiles in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $.88 or 2.3 percent at $79.49 a barrel.