The Thai stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 50 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,315-point plateau and its likely to open in the red again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is bleak on continuing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower on Monday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion again - although this selloff is quite overdone and may fade as the day progresses.
The SET finished sharply lower across the board on Monday, spooked by concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
For the day, the index dropped 38.41 points or 2.93 percent to finish at 1,274.67 after trading between 1,273.17 and 1,296.11. Volume was 14.113 billion shares worth 58.797 billion baht. There were 550 decliners and 37 gainers, with 74 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.84 percent, while Thailand Airport contracted 1.79 percent, Asset World and Krung Thai Bank both stumbled 2.84 percent, Banpu crashed 6.53 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 2.60 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.97 percent, Bangkok Expressway slid 4.55 percent, B. Grimm shed 1.33 percent, BTS Group dipped 1.97 percent, CP All Public and Charoen Pokphand Foods both dropped 1.74 percent, Energy Absolute surrendered 3.85 percent, Gulf lost 1.55 percent, Kasikornbank declined 2.63 percent, Krung Thai Card dipped 0.64 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 3.85 percent, PTT sank 2.34 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was down 2.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 5.63 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 5.31 percent, Siam Commercial Bank skidded 1.95 percent, Siam Concrete tanked 5.07 percent, Thai Oil cratered 5.83 percent, True Corporation rallied 2.66 percent and TTB Bank tumbled 2.98 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened deep in the red on Monday and stayed that way throughout the trading day.
The Dow plummeted 1,033 .99 points or 2.60 percent to finish at 38,703.27, while the NASDAQ tanked 576.08 points or 3.43 percent to close at 16,200.08 and the S&P 500 plunged 160.23 points or 3.00 percent to end at 5,186.33.
The continued weakness on Wall Street came on concerns that the U.S. economy may slip into recession following last Fridays disappointing jobs report.
Stocks regained some ground following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing service sector activity in the U.S. turned positive in the month of July.
Oil futures lower on Monday on concerns about the outlook for demand amid fears the U.S. economy could slip into a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September sank $0.58 or 0.7 percent at $72.94 a barrel.