The Thai stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 20 points or 1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,725-point
plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on earnings optimism and a spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financials were mitigated by support from the energy producers.
For the day, the index lost 7.52 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,727.58 after trading between 1,723.64 and 1,735.88. Volume was 18.861 billion shares worth 59.267 billion baht. There were 1,082 decliners and 510 gainers, with 420 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.92 percent, while Thailand Airport skidded 1.72 percent, Banpu and Krung Thai Bank both spiked 2.05 percent, Bangkok Medical lost 0.40 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 2.73 percent, BTS Group retreated 1.55 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 1.71 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.56 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.35 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.44 percent, TMB Bank declined 1.03 percent and PTT, PTT Global Chemical and Bangkok Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks moved higher on Monday, although buying interest was subdued and limited the upside for the major averages.
The Dow added 17.70 points or 0.07 percent to 27,171.90, while the NASDAQ gained 57.65 points or 0.71 percent to 8,204.14 and the S&P 500 rose 8.42 points or 0.28 percent to 2,985.03.
The higher close on Wall Street partly reflected optimism about upcoming earnings news, as a slew of big-name companies are due to report their quarterly results this week.
Amazon (AMZN), Coca-Cola (KO), AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), Caterpillar (CAT), Facebook (FB), Alphabet (GOOGL), Intel (INTC), McDonald's (MCD), and Twitter (TWTR) are just a few of the companies due to report their quarterly results.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday amid escalation in tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August settled up $0.59 or 1.1 percent at $56.22 a barrel on the expiration day.
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