Rebound Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai Stock market on Tuesday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 40 points or 2.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,490-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to easing crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the food, consumer, finance, property and technology sectors were mitigated by strong support from the energy companies.

For the day, the index dipped 3.59 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,490.10 after trading between 1,482.17 and 1,503.90. Volume was 10.071 billion shares worth 73.115 billion baht. There were 235 decliners and 234 gainers, with 191 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Banpu and Krung Thai Card both advanced 0.85 percent, while Bangkok Bank lost 0.62 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 1.09 percent, B. Grimm vaulted 1.55 percent, BTS Group dropped 0.96 percent, CP All Public sank 0.57 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Thai Oil both shed 0.52 percent, Energy Absolute increased 0.76 percent, Kasikornbank slipped 0.26 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.52 percent, PTT soared 3.55 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.95 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.00 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 3.75 percent, True Corporation improved 0.73 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.88 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, PTT Global Chemical, Asset World, Advanced Info, Gulf, PTT Oil & Retail, Thailand Airport and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages started higher and picked up steam as the day progressed, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 356.35 points or 073 percent to finish at 49,298.25, while the NASDAQ rallied 258.32 points or 1.03 percent to end at a record 25,326.13 and the S&P 500 gained 58.47 points or 0.81 percent to close at 7,259.22, also a record.

The strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures plunging by more than 3 percent after spiking by more than 4 percent on Monday.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday after U.S. attempts to unblock Strait of Hormuz traffic boosted market sentiments and eased supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $3.80 or 3.57 percent at $102.62 per barrel.

A positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news also contributed to the strength on Wall Street, led by Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), which handily beat the street.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of April.

Closer to home, Thailand will release April numbers for consumer prices later today, with overall inflation expected to climb 1.73 percent on year after slipping 0.08 percent in March. Core CPI is seen higher by an annual 0.60 percent, up from 0.57 percent in the previous month.