Soft Start Expected For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had improved more than 25 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,280-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, as traders are expected to lock in gains with several markets at or near record highs. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the food, industrial, property, services and technology sectors.

For the day, the index added 6.07 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 1,280.82 after trading between 1,272.83 and 1,281.04. Volume was 6.943 billion shares worth 38.904 billion baht. There were 288 gainers and 167 decliners, with 201 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.31 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.49 percent, Banpu accelerated 2.64 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.16 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 1.04 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.38 percent, BTS Group gained 0.88 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.93 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 4.44 percent, Gulf jumped 1.76 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.54 percent, Krung Thai Bank tumbled 1.74 percent, PTT Oil & Retail vaulted 4.58 percent, PTT dropped 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 3.13 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 5.71 percent, SCG Packaging skyrocketed 6.98 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.71 percent, Siam Concrete soared 4.74 percent, TTB Bank tanked 2.88 percent and Krung Thai Card, Asset World, True Corporation, Thai Oil, CP All Public and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day before a late slump saw them end mixed.

The Dow dropped 466.00 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 48,996.08, while the NASDAQ rose 37.10 points or 0.16 percent to close at 23,584.28 and the S&P 500 sank 23.89 points or 0.34 percent to end at 6,920.93.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs on Tuesday.

Traders were also digesting the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment increased less than expected in December.

Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. fell more than expected in November, while the Institute for Supply Management noted an unexpected increase by its reading on U.S. service sector activity in December.

Crude oil prices plunged again on Wednesday due to emerging supply side concerns following U.S. attempts to gain control of Venezuelan oil wealth. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.11 or 1.94 percent at $56.02 per barrel.