The Thai stock market has seen a decline over two consecutive sessions, dropping by over 0.9 percent or more than a dozen points. Currently, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) hovers just above the 1,450 mark, indicating potential stabilization on Wednesday.
The global outlook for Asian markets remains unclear, though technology shares might offer a minor uplift. While European markets fell, the U.S. markets presented mixed results, suggesting Asian markets could find a balance between these trends.
On Tuesday, the SET saw a slight decrease, with losses particularly noticeable in the industrial, resource, and technology sectors.
On that day, the index slipped by 1.87 points, or 0.13 percent, concluding at 1,451.16, having fluctuated between 1,449.24 and 1,461.93. The trading volume reached 9.850 billion shares valued at 40.897 billion baht. There were 248 stocks that declined, 226 advanced, and 189 remained unchanged.
Key movements included Advanced Info declining by 1.85 percent, Thailand Airport increasing by 0.81 percent, and Asset World rising by 1.10 percent. Banpu dropped by 1.60 percent, while Bangkok Expressway moved up by 0.63 percent. Meanwhile, CP All Public decreased by 0.78 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rose by 1.21 percent, and Energy Absolute surged by 3.92 percent. Other notable changes included Gulf up 0.38 percent, Kasikornbank down 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Card falling 0.52 percent, and PTT Oil & Retail dropping 1.26 percent. PTT fell 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 0.40 percent, SCG Packaging fell 2.86 percent, Siam Commercial Bank decreased 0.43 percent, Siam Cement increased 1.47 percent, Thai Oil was up 0.60 percent, True Corporation rose 1.68 percent, and TTB Bank gained 0.56 percent. Stocks like Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Global Chemical, B. Grimm, Bangkok Dusit Medical, and BTS Group remained unchanged.
On Wall Street, the situation was uncertain, with major indices starting lower and remaining near the breakeven line before ending the day mixed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 154.52 points or 0.36 percent to end at 42,233.05. In contrast, the NASDAQ rose 145.56 points or 0.78 percent, reaching a record close at 18,712.75, and the S&P 500 added 9.40 points or 0.16 percent to close at 5,832.92.
The uptick in the NASDAQ came before the release of earnings news from major technology firms, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL).
Notably, semiconductor stocks made significant upward moves, boosting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by 2.3 percent.
In U.S. economic developments, the Conference Board reported a significant rise in consumer confidence for October. Additionally, the Labor Department disclosed that job openings in the U.S. declined to 7.44 million in September, down from a revised 7.86 million in August.
Oil futures declined further on Tuesday amid worries that crude oil supplies might exceed near-term demand. December's West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped by $0.17, or about 0.25 percent, settling at $67.21 per barrel.
