Losses May Accelerate For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 60 points or 4.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,440-point plateau and it's likely to be in for a rough ride again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the conflict in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the finance, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index slumped 14.99 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 1,442.92 after trading between 1,439.38 and 1,453.79. Volume was 9.371 billion shares worth 65.310 billion baht. There were 324 decliners and 156 gainers, with 169 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info sank 0.81 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.49 percent, Asset World dropped 0.96 percent, Banpu improved 0.85 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.59 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.61 percent, Bangkok Expressway contracted 1.92 percent, B. Grimm slumped 0.88 percent, BTS Group declined 1.94 percent, CP All Public surrendered 2.75 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.01 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 2.26 percent, Gulf fell 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank rose 0.26 percent, Krung Thai Card tanked 2.56 percent, PTT Oil & Retail skyrocketed 7.89 percent, PTT increased 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 4.23 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 3.17 percent, SCG Packaging added 0.51 percent, Siam Concrete gained 0.78 percent, Thai Oil advanced 1.05 percent, True Corporation shed 0.71 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.77 percent and Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and continued to trend sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 469.38 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 45,960.11, while the NASDAQ plummeted 521.75 points or 2.38 percent to close at 21,408.08 and the S&P 500 slumped 114.74 points or 1.74 percent to end at 6,477.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street extended the see-saw trend seen over the past few sessions, as traders reacted to continued volatility by the price of crude oil.

Crude prices skyrocketed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff over the 15-point peace proposal deepens the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $4.51 or 4.99 percent at $94.83 per barrel.

Concerns about further widening of the conflict also weighed on the markets after several Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran's "criminal" attacks on their energy infrastructure.