Thai Stock Market May Test Support At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,610-point plateau and it's expected to open under pressure again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to profit taking and weakness among the technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are likely to follow a similar path.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the food, consumer, industrial and technology sectors.

For the day, the index fell 7.35 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 1,609.78 after trading between 1,606.44 and 1,629.69. Volume was 11.831 billion shares worth 90.133 billion baht. There were 251 decliners and 168 gainers, with 235 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but quickly headed south and finished mostly in the red on profit taking.

The Dow gained 263.24 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 54,349.12, while the NASDAQ tumbled 221.55 points or 0.83 percent to end at 26,363.44 and the S&P 500 sank 12.97 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,723.55.

The downturn by the markets reflected concerns about AI spending after SpaceX (SPCX) reported its first quarterly results as a public company, revealing an unwelcome spike in capital spending.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment increased by less than expected in the month of July.

Crude oil prices were down for a third straight day on Wednesday on continued optimism for the reopening of Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.49 or 0.65 percent at $75.28 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release July numbers for consumer prices later today; in June, overall inflation was up 2.42 percent on year and core CPI rose an annual 1.23 percent.