The Thai stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 15 points or 1.1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,350-point plateau and it figures to open under pressure again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests mild consolidation after significant upside in recent sessions, with a rising number of coronavirus cases also likely to weigh. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished barely lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and energy producers.
For the day, the index eased 1.25 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 1,349.81 after trading between 1,344.55 and 1,365.91. Volume was 22.777 billion shares worth 90.085 billion baht. There were 1,079 decliners and 572 gainers, with 455 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.38 percent, while Asset World dropped 0.99 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical soared 3.23 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 2.16 percent, BTS Group retreated 0.95 percent, Global Power Synergy plummeted 3.73 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dipped 0.27 percent, PTT Global Chemical perked 0.50 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.31 percent, Siam Concrete gained 0.56 percent, TMB Bank tanked 2.94 percent and PTT, Krung Thai Bank, Gulf, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Advanced Info and Bangkok Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened lower on Tuesday, pared the losses as the day progressed but still ended in the red after two sessions of solid gains.
The Dow shed 167.09 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 28.783.35, while the NASDAQ lost 24.79 points or 0.21 percent to end at 11,899.34 and the S&P 500 fell 17.38 points or 0.48 percent to close at 3,609.53.
Profit taking contributed to the initial pullback on Wall Street after the strength seen in the previous session lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.
The markets were also troubled by data that showed more than 166,000 news coronavirus cases on Monday, with the total number of cases in the U.S. now exceeding 11 million.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose less than expected in October, while the Federal Reserve noted a significant rebound in U.S. industrial production last month.
Crude oil futures contracts ended slightly higher on Tuesday as hopes for tighter production cuts by OPEC outweighed surging coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up $0.09 or 0.2 percent at $41.43 a barrel.
Closer to home, the central bank in Thailand will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.5 percent.
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