(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after it had ended the three-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 45 points or 3.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,320-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on strong economic data and continued support from technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly in the green and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.
For the day, the index shed 7.30 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 1,321.23 after trading between 1,311.25 and 1,325.31. Volume was 19.448 billion shares worth 54.716 billion baht. There were 837 decliners and 596 gainers, with 338 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.08 percent, while Thailand Airport plunged 3.40 percent, Asset World plummeted 4.48 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 1.01 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical retreated 1.36 percent, Bangkok Expressway declined 1.13 percent, BTS Group tumbled 1.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tanked 2.22 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.54 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.51 percent, PTT sank 1.28 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 2.28 percent, PTT Global Chemical fell 0.53 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.75 percent, Siam Concrete surrendered 2.36 percent and TMB Bank was down 1.05 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is solid as stocks moved mostly higher on Monday, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ hitting a fresh record closing high.
The Dow jumped 236.08 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 26,664.40, while the NASDAQ spiked 157.52 points or 1.47 percent to end at 10,902.80 and the S&P 500 rose 23.49 points or 0.72 percent to close at 3,294.61.
Technology stocks saw continued strength on the day after moving sharply higher last Friday on largely upbeat earnings news - particularly Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL).
Adding to the positive sentiment, the Institute for Supply Management reported a bigger than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in July - which came on the heels of upbeat readings on manufacturing in China and Europe.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday as encouraging economic data from the U.S., the Eurozone and China helped ease concerns about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September settled at $41.01 a barrel, gaining $0.74 or 1.8 percent.
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