Higher Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping almost 25 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,405-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the financial, property, resource and service sectors were mitigated by support from the technology, industrial and consumer companies.

For the day, the index slipped 4.33 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,405.02 after trading between 1,403.31 and 1,418.67. Volume was 8.111 billion shares worth 52.542 billion baht. There were 294 decliners and 198 gainers, with 163 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rallied 1.93 percent, while Thailand Airport crashed 1.53 percent, Banpu plummeted 4.10 percent, Bangkok Bank tumbled 1.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 0.95 percent, B. Grimm slumped 0.88 percent, BTS Group slipped 0.97 percent, CP All Public declined 1.08 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods skidded 1.06 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.52 percent, Gulf contracted 0.89 percent, Kasikornbank tanked 2.12 percent, Krung Thai Bank sank 0.73 percent, Krung Thai Card and Siam Concrete both dropped 0.85 percent, PTT cratered 2.19 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.68 percent, PTT Global Chemical jumped 1.77 percent, SCG Packaging lost 0.57 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.69 percent, Thai Oil plunged 4.15 percent, True Corporation improved 0.75 percent, TTB Bank stumbled 1.77 percent and Asset World, PTT Oil & Retail and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and remained firmly in the green throughout the trading day, snapping a four-day losing streak.

The Dow jumped 387.94 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 46,946.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 268.82 points or 1.22 percent to end at 22,374.18 and the S&P 500 spiked 67.19 points or 1.01 percent to close at 6,699.38.

The rebound on Wall Street came amid a sharp pullback by the price of crude oil after President Donald Trump called on other countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices slipped Monday as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz showed mild signs of easing. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down $5.38 or 5.45 percent at $93.33 per barrel.

The pullback by oil prices helped ease recent inflation concerns, although the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it meets in the coming days.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production in the U.S. increased slightly more than expected in February.