Lower Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market turned lower again on Tuesday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,590-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on rising hostilities in the Middle East and the resulting spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the food, consumer, finance, property and service sectors.

For the day, the index fell 6.48 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 1,588.68 after trading between 1,585.23 and 1,603.59. Volume was 9.827 billion shares worth 72.563 billion baht. There were 373 decliners and 108 gainers, with 168 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained firmly under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 419.02 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 52,766.88, while the NASDAQ sank 271.12 points or 1.03 percent to end at 26,099.77 and the S&P 500 lost 54.67 points or 0.71 percent to close at 7,631.47.

The continued weakness on Wall Street came after U.S. Central Command announced a fresh wave of attacks against Iran, striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets.

Crude oil prices have surged in reaction to the latest attack, renewing concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday after the U.S. launched another fresh wave of attacks on Iran following the recent exchange of strikes over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $4.27 or 4.98 percent at $90.03 per barrel.