The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,555-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with bargain hunting expected to lift the oversold bourses - particularly among the technology shares. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index dipped 2.41 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,557.61 after trading between 1,555.52 and 1,565.53. Volume was 20.647 billion shares worth 63.892 billion baht. There were 935 decliners and 594 gainers, with 602 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.51 percent, while Thailand Airport sank 0.72 percent, Asset World added 0.41 percent, Banpu tanked 2.36 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.82 percent, BTS Group gained 0.60 percent, CP All Public perked 0.42 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 0.96 percent, Energy Absolute fell 0.30 percent, Gulf lost 0.53 percent, IRPC retreated 1.25 percent, Kasikornbank slid 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.43 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.96 percent, PTT declined 1.48 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 2.53 percent, SCG Packaging strengthened 1.42 percent, Siam Concrete improved 0.55 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.47 percent, True Corporation was up 0.43 percent, TTB Bank tumbled 1.60 percent and Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Expressway, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Global Chemical and Siam Commercial Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, swooned midday before accelerating higher into the close.
The Dow jumped 194.23 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 30,677.36, while the NASDAQ spiked 179.11 points or 1.62 percent to end at 11,232.19 and the S&P 500 gained 35.94 points or 0.95 percent to close at 3,795.73.
The markets continued to experience choppy trading as traders weighed going bargain hunting following recent weakness against the possibility of a global recession.
Traders kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, with the Fed chief reiterating his commitment to moving quickly to bring inflation back down. But the Fed's plans to aggressively raise interest rates to combat inflation has led to concerns tighter monetary policy will tip the economy into a recession.
In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week.
Oil futures slid on Thursday, losing ground for a second straight session on concerns about outlook for energy demand amid rising possibility of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.92 or 1.8 percent at $104.27 a barrel.
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