The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation over the outlook for interest rates and likely selling in the retail sector. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and energy producers.
For the day, the index gained 9.77 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 1,639.72 after trading between 1,632.26 and 1,642.17. Volume was 18.871 billion shares worth 74.639 billion baht. There were 958 gainers and 701 decliners, with 573 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.50 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.70 percent, Asset World and PTT Oil & Retail both advanced 0.93 percent, Banpu spiked 2.94 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.73 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.77 percent, Bangkok Expressway rose 0.57 percent, B. Grimm gained 0.64 percent, BTS Group lost 0.59 percent, CP All Public rallied 2.10 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.90 percent, Gulf gathered 0.51 percent, IRPC increased 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.65 percent, PTT perked 0.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dropped 0.64 percent, PTT Global Chemical climbed 1.05 percent, SCG Packaging improved 0.43 percent, Siam Commercial Bank jumped 1.89 percent, Siam Concrete was up 0.27 percent, Thai Oil accelerated 1.79 percent, True Corporation slumped 0.41 percent, TTB Bank soared 2.52 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Bank and Krung Thai Card were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, pared the losses as the day progressed but still ended firmly in the red.
The Dow dropped 171.69 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 33,980.32, while the NASDAQ tumbled 164.43 points or 1.25 percent to close at 12,938.12 and the S&P 500 slumped 31.16 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,274.04.
The failed recovery attempt came after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which some traders seemed to interpret as pointing to a slowdown in the pace of interest rate hikes. But the Fed minutes reaffirmed the central bank's plans to continue raising interest rates in an effort to return inflation to its 2 percent objective.
Quarterly results from Target (TGT) also weighed on the markets after reporting earnings fell well short of estimates as it cut prices in an effort to reduce excess inventory.
Traders were also reacting to a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in flat in July amid pullbacks in gas station and auto sales.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing declines in crude and gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.58 or 1.8 percent at $88.11 a barrel.