(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, slipping more than 55 points or 4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,395-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the FOMC's interest rate decision later today. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion, although bargain hunting may take hold later in the day.
The SET finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the food, consumer and service sectors.
For the day, the index tumbled 24.15 points or 1.70 percent to finish at 1,395.57 after trading between 1,393.04 and 1,421.65. Volume was 10.363 billion shares worth 55.366 billion baht. There were 423 decliners and 96 gainers, with 146 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 2.45 percent, while Thailand Airport gave up 3.27 percent, Asset World slumped 2.23 percent, Banpu sank 2.54 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.67 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slipped 2.07 percent, Bangkok Expressway dipped 2.63 percent, B. Grimm shed 2.96 percent, BTS Group eased 2.46 percent, CP All Public weakened 4.66 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plummeted 5.08 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.51 percent, Gulf lost 1.62 percent, Kasikornbank tanked 2.23 percent, Krung Thai Bank stumbled 2.34 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.04 percent, PTT Oil & Retail crashed 4.35 percent, PTT gained 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 2.47 percent, PTT Global Chemical surrendered 3.29 percent, SCG Packaging cratered 3.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank tumbled 2.11 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 4.03 percent, Thai Oil was down 3.47 percent, True Corporation skidded 3.36 percent and TTB Bank declined 1.61 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.
The Dow tumbled 267.58 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 43,449.90, while the NASDAQ sank 64.83 points or 0.32 percent to close at 20,109.06 and the S&P 500 lost 23.47 points or 0.39 percent to end at 6,050.61.
The weakness on Wall Street reflected a pullback by technology stocks, which had led the way higher in the previous session - particularly among the networking and semiconductor stocks. Telecom, financial, housing and steel stocks also moved to the downside.
Meanwhile, traders continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. While the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another quarter-point, traders will pay close attention to the Fed's statement and latest economic projections, including their forecasts for rates.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global demand, and possible excess supply in the market next year. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for January ended down $0.63 or 0.9 percent at $70.08 a barrel.
Closer to home, the central bank in Thailand will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.25 percent.
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