The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 20 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished just below the 1,205-point plateau, and now analysts are forecasting continued weakness at the opening of trade on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with markets tipped to open lower following soft economic data from Europe and the United States. GDP in the United Kingdom was up 0.5 percent on year and down 0.3 percent on quarter, missing forecasts in both cases. In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. durable goods orders rose by less than expected in February. The European and U.S. markets finished in the red and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday following heavy losses from the financial shares and a mixed bag from the energy producers.
For the day, the index lost 3.28 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 1,204.01 after trading between 1,199.59 and 1,209.16. Volume was 4.967 billion shares worth 28.551 billion baht. There were 270 decliners and 236 gainers, with 166 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, energy giant PTT was up 0.84 percent, while PTT Global Chemicals shed 0.34 percent, coal miner Banpu was flat, Siam Commercial Bank lost 1.35 percent and Bangkok Bank fell 1.32 percent.
The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as stocks moved mostly lower on Wednesday, extending the downward move seen in the previous session. Disappointing U.S. economic data contributed to the continued weakness in the markets.
Profit taking also contributed to the pullback by stocks, with some traders cashing in on the strong upward move seen over the past several months. A number of analysts have called for a correction by the markets, but traders have thus far seemed wary of missing out on any further upside.
The weakness followed the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing that U.S. durable goods orders rose by less than expected in February. Durable goods orders rose by 2.2 percent in February following a revised 3.6 percent decrease in January, while economists had expected orders to increase by about 2.9 percent.
Among individual stocks, shares of Christopher & Banks (CBK) fell by 15.7 percent after the women's apparel retailer reported a net loss of $0.89 per share for the nine weeks ended January 28. Jos. A. Bank (JOSB) also closed lower after the men's apparel and accessories retailer reported fourth quarter earnings growth but said the first quarter is off to a slow start.
The major U.S. averages ended the session well off their worst levels of the day on Wednesday but still closed in the red. The Dow fell 71.52 points or 0.5 percent to finish at 13,126.21, while the NASDAQ dropped 15.39 points or 0.5 percent to end at 3,104.96 and the S&P 500 slid 6.98 points or 0.5 percent to 1,405.54.
In economic news, Thailand's trade balance unexpectedly showed a surplus in February, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday. The trade surplus totaled $0.53 billion compared to deficit of $1.13 billion in January. Economists were forecasting the shortfall to narrow to $0.27 billion. Exports increased 0.91 percent annually, in contrast to the forecast of 5 percent decline. Meanwhile, imports grew 8.2 percent, bigger than the consensus forecast of 6.1 percent.
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