Soft Start Seen For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, giving up more than 5 points or 0.3 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,590-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

Th SET finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the financial and technology shares were offset by support from the property and resource sectors.

For the day, the index eased 0.98 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 1,587.07 after trading between 1,574.14 and 1,590.04. Volume was 10.956 billion shares worth 63.789 billion baht. There were 318 gainers and 139 decliners, with 209 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport lost 0.42 percent, while Asset World tumbled 1.52 percent, Banpu advanced 0.93 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.85 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical vaulted 1.64 percent, Bangkok Expressway expanded 1.72 percent, B. Grimm surged 4.82 percent, BTS Group accelerated 2.88 percent, CP All Public added 0.54 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods skidded 1.05 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 2.01 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.49 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.69 percent, Krung Thai Card soared 4.07 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.81 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 1.11 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.77 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slipped 0.35 percent, Siam Concrete strengthened 1.23 percent, Thai Oil rallied 2.86 percent, True Corporation improved 0.72 percent and TTB Bank, SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, Gulf and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line before tumbling after the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The Dow dropped 507.12 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 51,492.55, while the NASDAQ slumped 354.69 points or 1.34 percent to close at 26,021.66 and the S&P 500 sank 91.25 points or 1.21 percent to end at 7,420.10.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after the Fed left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but projections suggest that rates could be higher by end of the year.

The Fed noted that inflation remains elevated relative to the Fed's 2 percent goal, in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of May.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Wednesday as energy experts remain skeptical of an early restoration of normal oil trade in the gulf region despite the upcoming U.S.-Iran deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.45 or 0.59 percent at $76.50 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled release May numbers for imports, exports and trade balance later today; in April, imports were up 45.0 percent and exports climbed an annual 23.1 percent for a trade deficit of $10.020 billion.