The Thai stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 90 points or 5.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,565-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with financials likely to lead the way lower amid fresh concerns over the stability of the sector. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The SET finished sharply higher on Wednesday on bargain hunting across the board following heavy selling earlier this week.
For the day, the index spiked 41.11 points or 2.70 percent to finish at 1,565.00 after trading between 1,543.61 and 1,573.51. Volume was 20.709 billion shares worth 69.703 billion baht. There were 1,278 gainers and 444 decliners, with 302 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.99 percent, while Thailand Airport skyrocketed 6.79 percent, Asset World perked 1.90 percent, Banpu rallied 1.92 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 3.03 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 1.82 percent, Bangkok Expressway spiked 2.91 percent, B. Grimm soared 5.48 percent, BTS Group skyrocketed 6.72 percent, CP All Public climbed 2.09 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods gained 2.90 percent, Energy Absolute climbed 3.83 percent, Gulf gained 3.08 percent, Kasikornbank spiked 3.95 percent, Krung Thai Bank accelerated 3.11 percent, Krung Thai Card surged 2.86 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 2.02 percent, PTT increased 2.54 percent, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical gathered 1.67 percent, SCG Packaging slumped 1.02 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 3.59 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 2.22 percent, Thai Oil rose 1.48 percent and TTB Bank added 1.54 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is largely negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday. A late push pared the losses and nudged the NASDAQ barely into the green.
The Dow tumbled 280.83 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 31,874.57, while the NASDAQ perked 5.90 points or 0.05 percent to close at 11,434.05 and the S&P 500 sank 27.36 points or 0.70 percent to end at 3,891.93.
The weakness on Wall Street was fueled by weakness from the financial sector.
In addition to ongoing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, short-term debt woes of Swiss lender Credit Suisse contributed to the bearish sentiment in the market.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in U.S. fell slightly more than expected in February. Also, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower last month.
Crude oil prices plunged to their lowest level since December 2021 on Wednesday, amid rising concerns about global economic growth and worries about the outlook for energy demand after data showed an increase in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate futures for April tumbled 5 percent at $67.61 a barrel.
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