The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 7 points or 0.5 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,450-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, largely on positive momentum amid a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were modestly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The SET finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the food, industrial, property, resource and technology sectors.
For the day, the index lost 3.79 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,447.90 after trading between 1,442.02 and 1,455.44. Volume was 9.675 billion shares worth 50.687 billion baht. There were 320 decliners and 188 gainers, with 162 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.39 percent, Thailand Airport shed 0.78 percent, Banpu retreated 1.35 percent, Bangkok Bank advanced 0.97 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical accelerated 1.64 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.86 percent, BTS Group slumped 2.55 percent, CP All Public gained 0.77 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tanked 2.03 percent, Energy Absolute soared 2.79 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank strengthened 1.47 percent, Krung Thai Card stumbled 2.65 percent, PTT Oil & Retail skidded 1.16 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.72 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.79 percent, SCG Packaging improved 0.88 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete plunged 2.52 percent, Thai Oil climbed 1.00 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.90 percent, TTB Bank rallied 1.56 percent and Asset World, Gulf, PTT and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday and largely remained that way throughout the session, finishing with mild gains.
The Dow added 61.29 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 42,124.65, while the NASDAQ rose 25.95 points or 0.14 percent to close at 17,974.27 and the S&P 500 gained 16.02 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,718.57.
The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflects optimism about the outlook for the economy following the Federal Reserves interest rate cut last week.
The Fed is expected to continue lowering rates in the coming months amid signs of slowing inflation even as the economy remains relatively strong.
Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of some key economic data later this week.
Crude oil prices were unable to hold early gains, slumping midday on demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery fell $0.47 or 0.66 percent to $70.53 per barrel.