Thai Stock Market May Reverse Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,400-point plateau although it may find renewed support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat as tensions in the Middle East take a slight breather. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead. The SET finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the food, finance, property, resource, service and technology sectors. For the day, the index slumped 35.65 points or 2.49 percent to finish at 1,397.34 after trading between 1,396.11 and 1,409.81. Volume was 9.310 billion shares worth 61.490 billion baht. There were 472 decliners and 70 gainers, with 110 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info cratered 3.68 percent, while Thailand Airport dipped 2.05 percent, Asset World tumbled 2.97 percent, Banpu rallied 2.44 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.51 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slid 3.17 percent, Bangkok Expressway gave up 1.49 percent, B. Grimm plummeted 4.63 percent, BTS Group eased 1.49 percent, CP All Public skidded 3.85 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plunged 4.95 percent, Energy Absolute contracted 3.10 percent, Gulf weakened 3.52 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.58 percent, Krung Thai Bank stumbled 2.17 percent, Krung Thai Card surrendered 3.45 percent, PTT Oil & Retail fell 1.77 percent, PTT lost 1.47 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.65 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 4.69 percent, SCG Packaging shed 1.09 percent, Siam Commercial Bank skidded 1.37 percent, Siam Concrete slumped 1.62 percent, Thai Oil was down 2.73 percent, True Corporation crashed 3.55 percent and TTB Bank tanked 2.68 percent. The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained firmly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 631.00 points or 1.38 percent to finish at 46,208.47, while the NASDAQ spiked 299.15 points or 1.38 percent to close at 21,946.76 and the S&P 500 rallied 74.52 points or 1.15 percent to end at 6,581.00.

The early rally on Wall Street came reaction to President Donald Trump backing down from his threats to "obliterate" Iran's power plants unless they fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

However, buying interest waned somewhat as the day progressed, as Iran's state-run media said the country's foreign ministry has denied negotiating with the U.S.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Monday after Trump's announcement that he ordered the U.S. forces to pause any planned attacks against Iran's power plants and energy infrastructure. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $10.21 or 10.39 percent at $88.02 per barrel. Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release February trade data sometime this week; in January, imports were up 29.4 percent on year and exports rose 24.4 percent for a trade deficit of $3.300 billion.