Lower Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has climbed higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 35 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,440-point plateau although it's likely to open under pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the food, consumer, industrial and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the property and resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 6.97 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 1,440.85 after trading between 1,438.13 and 1,454.48. Volume was 9.487 billion shares worth 56.571 billion baht. There were 232 decliners and 231 gainers, with 196 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Banpu tumbled 2.54 percent, while Bangkok Bank collected 0.30 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skidded 1.06 percent, Bangkok Expressway advanced 0.95 percent, B. Grimm slumped 1.71 percent, BTS Group lost 0.96 percent, CP All Public gathered 0.55 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rallied 2.03 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.52 percent, Gulf gained 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank added 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank sank 0.72 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.84 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plunged 3.42 percent, PTT declined 1.47 percent, PTT Exploration and Production contracted 1.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.81 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.35 percent, Siam Concrete increased 0.82 percent, Thai Oil gathered 0.53 percent, True Corporation shed 0.71 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.80 percent and SCG Packaging, Asset World, Advanced Info and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.

The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.

Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Powell said the U.S. is seeing "some progress on inflation" but "not as much as we had hoped." While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that "you won't see the rate cut" if there isn't further progress on inflation.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per barrel.