Higher Open Tipped For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market moved emphatically back to the downside again on Thursday, one day after ending the six-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 55 points or 4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,375-point plateau although it may see renewed support on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat, and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index dropped 21.42 points or 1.53 percent to finish at 1,377.53 after trading between 1,374.33 and 1,394.26. Volume was 9.883 billion shares worth 49.320 billion baht. There were 415 decliners and 102 gainers, with 145 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slid 2.84 percent, while Thailand Airport weakened 1.67 percent, Asset World skidded 1.15 percent, Banpu sank 0.86 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.34 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 2.51 percent, Bangkok Expressway plummeted 3.40 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.57 percent, BTS Group lost 1.69 percent, CP All Public plunged 3.54 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods surrendered 3.91 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.51 percent, Gulf stumbled 2.49 percent, Kasikornbank eased 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.55 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 1.50 percent, PTT tanked 2.31 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.42 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 2.08 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.04 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.84 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.30 percent, Thai Oil rallied 1.45 percent, True Corporation crashed 3.64 percent, TTB Bank fell 0.55 percent and Krung Thai Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher Thursday on bargain hunting but faded as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 15.37 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 42,342.24, while the NASDAQ dipped 19.93 points or 0.10 percent to close at 19,372.77 and the S&P 500 eased 5.08 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,867.08.

The initial strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday's steep losses, which saw the Dow tumble to its lowest closing level in over a month.

Wednesday's sell-off came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to lower interest rates by a quarter-point but forecast rate cuts fewer than expected next year.

Upbeat economic data supported for the Fed's cautious approach to further rate cuts after the Commerce Department said GDP surged more than expected in Q3. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits pulled back more than expected last week.

Crude oil futures were down on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer interest rate cuts next year than had been expected. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January closed down $0.67 or 0.95 percent at $69.91 a barrel.