BANGKOK: The losing streak has hit three sessions for the Thai stock market, which has surrendered almost 15 points or 1 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,575-point plateau, and the market may extend its losses again on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to geopolitical concerns and weak earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead. The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.
Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.85 percent, while coal miner Banpu climbed 1.04 percent, Bangkok Bank was unchanged, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.70 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.26 percent, Krung Thai Bank dropped 1.04 percent, PTT skidded 3.35 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tumbled 3.92 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.09 percent and Siam Concrete gave away 0.78 percent. The lead from Wall Street is flat to lower as stocks opened in the red on Tuesday and mostly stayed that way through the session.
The NASDAQ added 1.07 points or 0.1 percent to 5,614.79, while the Dow fell 107.04 points or 0.5 percent to 19,864.09 and the S&P 500 fell 2.03 points or 0.1 percent to 2,278.87. The early weakness reflected disappointing earnings news from big name companies including UPS (UPS) and ExxonMobil (XOM). Concerns about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies also weighed on the markets after the new president fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. In economic news, the Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index pulled back off the 15-year high in January. Also, MNI Indicators said that Chicago-area business activity was nearly flat last month. Closer to home, Thailand will release January numbers for consumer and producer prices later today. In December, consumer prices were up 0.13 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year, while core CPI added 0.01 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year. Producer prices were up 0.9 percent on month and 1.1 percent on year.
