No Help Yet For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai Stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,480-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to recent developments in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished barely lower on Monday following losses from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource and service sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 0.60 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,481.85 after trading between 7.453 billion shares worth 54.071 billion baht. There were 264 decliners and 191 gainers, with 192 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport slipped 0.46 percent, while Banpu tumbled 1.85 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.53 percent, B. Grimm jumped 1.84 percent, BTS Group contracted 0.96 percent, CP All Public stumbled 2.63 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods skidded 1.00 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.75 percent, Gulf advanced 0.87 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 0.80 percent, Krung Thai Card soared 3.42 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 2.50 percent, PTT slumped 0.72 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.07 percent, PTT Global Chemical cratered 4.76 percent, SCG Packaging added 0.47 percent, Siam Commercial Bank plummeted 6.21 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.43 percent, Thai Oil plunged 3.26 percent, True Corporation improve 0.71 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.80 percent and Bangkok Bank, Advanced Info, Asset World and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but quickly turned lower and ended in the red, although off of session lows.

The Dow dipped 4.87 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 49,442.56, while the NASDAQ shed 64.09 points or 0.26 percent to close at 24,404.39 and the S&P 500 sank 16.92 points or 0.24 percent to end at 7,109.14.

The modest weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about the re-escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Iran following the latest developments in the Middle East.

Over the weekend, Iran once again closed the Strait of Hormuz and purportedly fired on tankers in the vital waterway, blaming the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports for the moves.

The latest threats combined with news that U.S. forces have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, contributed to a significant rebound by the price of crude oil.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship and Iran vowed to retaliate, renewing supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.54 or 6.61 percent at $89.39 per barrel.