Thai Stock Market May Ebb On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven 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 1,625-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on surging crude oil prices and increasing anxiety in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SET finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the food, consumer, financial, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 17.38 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 1,626.44 after trading between 1,613.30 and 1,632.08. Volume was 11.938 billion shares worth 75.660 billion baht. There were 314 gainers and 173 decliners, with 164 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed and flat but turned lower by midday, ending near session lows.

The Dow sank 272.63 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 53,459.78, while the NASDAQ lost 84.25 points or 0.32 percent to close at 26,644.91 and the S&P 500 fell 40.70 points or 0.52 percent to end at 7,745.06.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as the price of crude oil moved sharply higher amid indications Iran has ruled out talks with the U.S. to extend a 60-day ceasefire that expired Monday.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday, reflecting concerns about a re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery surged $2.28 or 2.8 percent to $84.68 a barrel.

Airline stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session amid the surge in crude oil prices, while substantial weakness was also visible among software, telecom, computer hardware and housing stocks.