Thai Stock Market Tipped To Remain Rangebound On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Queen Sirikit's birthday, the Thai stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amidst a lack of catalysts. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the food, finance, property, service and technology sectors were mitigated by support from the industrial and resource stocks.

For the day, the index sank 11.74 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 1,612.62 after trading between 1,610.41 and 1,628.67. Volume was 10.799 billion shares worth 69.950 billion baht. There were 309 decliners and 164 gainers, with 187 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow slipped under water at the close.

The Dow dipped 21.58 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 53,770.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 143.04 points or 0.54 percent to end at 26,588.49 and the S&P 500 rose 20.30 points or 0.26 percent to close at 7,748.50.

The early strength on Wall Street came as fairly tame consumer price data eased concerns about the outlook for interest rates as inflation rose in line with estimates.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as the recent resurgence of Middle East tensions and the resulting spike in crude oil prices have fueled inflation concerns, although crude futures were little changed on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices inched lower after Pakistan announced initiating efforts to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.22 or 0.2 percent at $82.98 per barrel.