Narrow Trading Range Expected For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,480-point plateau and it's expected to see little movement again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement on stimulus concerns and lackluster earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index slid 4.50 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 1,481.75 after trading between 1,481.69 and 1,500.17.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.16 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.40 percent, Asset World lost 0.42 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.42 percent, Bangkok Expressway declined 1.22 percent, BTS Group fell 0.53 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.91 percent, Gulf sank 0.74 percent, Kasikornbank spiked 1.91 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.71 percent, PTT surrendered 1.29 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.47 percent, PTT Global Chemical gained 0.41 percent, SCG Packaging was down 0.53 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 2.65 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 2.35 percent, TMB Bank accelerated 1.82 percent and Bangkok Asset Management was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Wednesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 36.12 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 30,723.60, while the NASDAQ eased 2.23 points or 0.02 percent to end at 13,610.54 and the S&P 500 rose 3.86 points or 0.10 percent to close at 3,830.17.

Earnings news was inconsistent as Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amgen (AMGN) and Amazon all beat the street although only Alphabet posted gains in the market.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets followed the release of some upbeat economic data, which raised concerns lawmakers will feel less pressure to provide additional stimulus.

Payroll processor ADP noted a much stronger than expected rebound in private sector employment in January, while the Institute for Supply Management showed U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly accelerated last month.

Crude oil prices moved higher to hit 11-month highs on Wednesday, lifted by OPEC's decision to cut crude production for two months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $0.93 or 1.7 percent at $55.69 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see January results for its consumer confidence index later today; in December, the index score was 50.1.

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