The Thai stock market has finished lower in three consecutive trading days, dropping almost 45 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,685-point plateau and it's looking at another weak lead for Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to disappointing earnings news and a drop in crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat - and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished sharply lower on Thursday with damage across the board - particularly among the financial shares and energy producers.
For the day, the index plummeted 24.10 points or 1.41 percent to finish at 1,683.43 after trading between 1,681.00 and 1,712.52. Volume was 14.095 billion shares worth 79.755 billion baht. There were 1,217 decliners and 342 gainers, with 238 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 1.28 percent, while Thailand Airport tumbled 2.13 percent, Banpu lost 1.70 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 2.07 percent, Bangkok Medical dropped 2.33 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.64 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 2.80 percent, Kasikornbank fell 1.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank gave away 1.58 percent, PTT dipped 1.42 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slipped 1.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical plummeted 3.35 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.34 percent and Siam Concrete lost 1.21 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks moved back and forth across the unchanged line Thursday before ending mixed.
The Dow added 5.44 points or 0.02 percent to 23,163.04, while the NASDAQ fell 19.15 points or 0.29 percent at 6,605.07 and the S&P 500 was up 0.84 points or 0.03 percent to 2,562.10.
The early weakness was due to profit taking and soft earnings news from eBay (EBAY) and Philip Morris (PM).
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected in the week ended October 14.
Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said regional manufacturing activity unexpectedly grew at a faster rate in October, while the Conference Board noted an unexpected decrease by its leading of leading economic indicators in September.
Crude oil futures fell Thursday despite a prediction from OPEC's top man that oil demand will surge in the coming years. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 75 cents or 1.4 percent to $51.29/bbl.
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