Ahead of the long holiday weekend for Labor Day and Coronation Day, the Thai stock market had snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,585-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is soft, with technology stocks and airlines expected to lead the way lower. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly negative and the Asian markets are also tipped to open under pressure.
The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.
For the day, the index lost 7.33 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,583.13 after trading between 1,580.74 and 1,593.23. Volume was 32.475 billion shares worth 85.480 billion baht. There were 1m051 decliners and 533 gainers, with 446 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.58 percent, while Thailand Airport retreated 1.59 percent, Asset World sank 0.83 percent, Bangkok Asset Management added 0.49 percent, Bangkok Bank lost 0.83 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skidded 1.36 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.63 percent, BTS Group fell 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 1.86 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 0.88 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 0.81 percent, PTT surrendered 1.23 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 0.85 percent, PTT Global Chemical rose 0.37 percent, SCG Packaging soared 2.29 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete was down 0.86 percent and TMB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods and Gulf were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mainly negative as the major averages opened Tuesday deep in the red and largely stayed that way, although the Dow managed to peak into the green at the close.
The Dow rose 19.80 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 34,133.03, while the NASDAQ plummeted 261 points or 1.88 percent to end at 13,633.50 and the S&P 500 lost 28.00 points or 0.67 percent to close at 4,164.66.
The weakness on Wall Street largely reflected a continued pullback by technology stocks, with traders cashing in on tech stocks that benefited from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns as more states continue to lift restrictions.
Additional selling pressure was generated in reaction to comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who suggested interest rates may have to rise modestly to prevent the economy from overheating amid the recent spike in government spending.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit hit a new record high in March. The Commerce Department also said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rebounded less than expected in March.
Crude oil prices moved sharply higher Tuesday, extending gains from previous session amid continued optimism about increased demand for fuel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.20 or 1.9 percent at $65.69 a barrel.
Closer to home, the central bank in Thailand will wrap up its monetary policy meeting today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at the current level of 0.50 percent.
Thailand also will see April numbers for inflation, with overall consumer prices expected to rise 2.5 percent on year after easing 0.08 percent in March. Core CPI is tipped to add an annual 0.18 percent after gaining 0.09 percent a month earlier.
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