Thai Shares Tipped To Open Under Water Again On Wednesday

Ahead of the long weekend for the Songkran Festival, the Thai stock market had ended the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,395-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with bargain hunting pitted against interest rate concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index slumped 11.79 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 1,396.38 after trading between 1,394.71 and 1,406.77. Volume was 15.665 billion shares worth 42.973 billion baht. There were 300 decliners and 156 gainers, with 199 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.98 percent, while Thailand Airport was down 0.74 percent, Asset World stumbled 1.33 percent, Banpu soared 2.65 percent, Bangkok Bank rallied 1.40 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.77 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.60 percent, B. Grimm plunged 2.63 percent, BTS Group slipped 0.81 percent, CP All Public dipped 0.44 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.54 percent, Energy Absolute improved 0.70 percent, Gulf slumped 1.14 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.08 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 1.08 percent, PTT surrendered 1.42 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical lost 0.61 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.53 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.38 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.72 percent, True Corporation sank 0.62 percent, TTB Bank added 0.55 percent and Siam Commercial Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and, after some volatility, ended on opposite sides of the line and little changed.

The Dow added 63.86 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 37,798.97, while the NASDAQ shed 19.77 points or 0.12 percent to close at 15,865.25 and the S&P 500 sank 10.41 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,051.41.

The lack of direction shown by the markets came as traders weighed the idea of picking up stocks at relatively reduced levels against concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note reached its highest intraday levels in almost six months after the Federal Reserve released a report showing a continued increase in U.S. industrial production in the month of March.

Adding to the rate worries, Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated in remarks that rates are likely to remain higher for longer amid a "lack of progress" toward reaching the central bank's inflation goal.

Crude oil showed a lack of direction on Tuesday before easing slightly as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen indicated the U.S. plans to impose new sanctions on Iran in response to the country's attack on Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dipped $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $85.36 a barrel.

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