Market Commentary and Intraday News

Thai Bourse Called Lower On Tuesday

255 days ago

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has closed higher now in three straight sessions, gathering more than 15 points or 1.4 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand closed just above the 1,250-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting modest selling pressure at the opening of trade on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy meeting. The Fed is due to announce its latest decision on monetary policy on Thursday followed by a news conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke - and there remains considerable uncertainty about whether the Fed will announce another round of quantitative easing. The European and U.S. markets ended lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly higher on Monday, bumped into the green by gains from the financial sector and a mixed performance from the energy producers.

For the day, the index added 4.83 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 1,250.93 after trading between 1,249.35 and 1,254.87. Volume was 7.223 billion shares worth 28.045 billion baht. There were 268 gainers and 258 decliners, with 169 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, energy giant PTT was down 0.30 percent, while PTT Global Chemicals added 0.41 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was flat, coal miner Banpu shed 0.89 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.97 percent, Bangkok Bank gained 0.52 percent and Kasikornbank and Siam Concrete both were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks moved mostly lower on Monday, after showing a lack of direction early in the session. The pullback came as some traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets ahead of the Fed's two-day monetary policy meeting.

The Fed is due to announce its latest decision on monetary policy Thursday afternoon followed by a news conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke. Uncertainty about whether the Fed will announce another round of quantitative easing helped to drag stocks lower, although selling pressure remained relatively subdued.

Some negative sentiment was also generated by disappointing trade data from China, with a report showing an unexpected year-over-year drop in imports in the month of August.

Ahead of the announcement from the Fed, traders are likely to keep a close eye on Europe, as Germany's Constitutional Court is expected to rule on a request for a temporary injunction against Europe's permanent bailout fund.

Developments in Greece are also likely to remain in focus, with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras reportedly having trouble getting the country's lenders to sign off on his government's proposed budget cuts.

Among individual stocks, shares of Titan Machinery (TITN) fell sharply after the farm equipment retailer reported weaker than expected second quarter earnings and cut its full-year guidance. Titan tumbled by 23.5 percent on the day.

Apparel retailer Michael Kors (KORS) also posted a notable loss after filing a registration statement with the SEC related to a proposed public offering of 20 million ordinary shares by certain shareholders.

The major U.S. averages were all down on Monday as the Dow fell 52.35 points or 0.4 percent to finish at 13,254.29, while the NASDAQ dropped 32.40 points or 1 percent to end at 3,104.02 and the S&P 500 slid 8.84 points or 0.6 percent to close at 1,429.08.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2012 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved

View all of today's news »