Thai Stock Market Tipped To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, adding almost 25 points or 1.7 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,405-point plateau although the rally may stall on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the war in the Middle East and surging oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the consumer, finance, property and service sectors were capped by weakness from the food, industrial and resource companies. For the day, the index perked 1.58 points or 0.11 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,407.34 after trading as high as 1,428.06. Volume was 10.313 billion shares worth 66.700 billion baht. There were 221 decliners and 217 gainers, with 208 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info retreated 1.37 percent, while Thailand Airport soared 2.51 percent, Banpu plunged 3.39 percent, Bangkok Bank rose 0.30 percent, Bangkok Expressway weakened 1.85 percent, B. Grimm cratered 2.52 percent, CP All Public contracted 1.06 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods stumbled 2.08 percent, Energy Absolute declined 1.47 percent, Gulf crashed 2.68 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.80 percent, Krung Thai Card dropped 0.86 percent, PTT Oil & Retail shed 0.89 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rallied 2.50 percent, PTT Global Chemical slumped 0.93 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 1.13 percent, Siam Concrete spiked 2.64 percent, Thai Oil tumbled 1.56 percent, True Corporation sank 0.76 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Asset World, PTT, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent much of Wednesday's trade bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed.

The Dow dropped 289.24 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 47,417.27, while the NASDAQ rose 19.03 points or 0.08 percent to end at 22,716.13 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.68 points or 0.08 percent to close at 6,775.80.

The recent volatility has largely been driven by big swings by the price of crude oil, which rebounded on Wednesday.

Crude oil is regained ground after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it has received reports of three vessels being struck by projectiles off Iran's coast, adding to worries about transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday as the Middle East conflict fails to show any indication of calming down soon. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $4.21 or 5.04 percent at $87.66 per barrel.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in February.