The Thai stock market closed lower on Monday for the second time in three sessions, following a brief winning streak that saw a gain of over 20 points or 1.6 percent. As the Stock Exchange of Thailand hovers slightly above the 1,340-mark, expectations are for another slow opening on Tuesday. A downbeat global outlook for Asian markets, driven by declines in oil and technology stocks, aligns with the recent performance of European and U.S. markets, which also ended mostly lower.
In Bangkok on Monday, the market saw modest declines, with consumer, property, resource, service, and technology sectors experiencing losses. These were somewhat offset by gains in food, financial, and industrial sectors. The SET index fell by 13.13 points or 0.97 percent, closing at 1,340.94, after fluctuating between 1,340.54 and 1,354.74. The trading volume reached 6.938 billion shares, with a total value of 30.721 billion baht. The day's activity included 305 stocks declining, 174 advancing, and 187 remaining unchanged.
Key market movements included a 1.33 percent drop for Thailand Airport and a 1.28 percent decline for Asset World. Meanwhile, Banpu climbed 0.94 percent, and Bangkok Bank rose by 0.98 percent. Bangkok Dusit Medical fell by 0.85 percent, while Bangkok Expressway surged by 2.26 percent. B. Grimm slipped 1.27 percent, and BTS Group added 0.81 percent. Other notable movements included a 3.60 percent jump by Charoen Pokphand Foods and an impressive 12.93 percent rise by Energy Absolute. Meanwhile, Gulf dropped 1.65 percent, Krung Thai Bank increased 2.21 percent, and PTT Oil & Retail fell 0.86 percent. Siam Commercial Bank and TTB Bank saw gains of 0.81 percent and 1.07 percent, respectively. SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, True Corporation, PTT, and Thai Oil remained unchanged.
The Wall Street outlook was grim, with major U.S. indices opening negatively on Monday. The Dow managed a recovery, climbing 289.33 points or 0.65 percent to end at 44,713.58. However, the NASDAQ fell sharply by 612.47 points or 3.07 percent, closing at 19,341.83, and the S&P 500 decreased by 88.96 points or 1.46 percent, settling at 6,012.28.
The sell-off was primarily due to significant weakness in technology stocks, spearheaded by a downturn in Nvidia (NVDA) shares. Nvidia's losses came after DeepSeek's AI Assistant surpassed ChatGPT to become the top-rated free app on Apple's App Store in the U.S.
Investor sentiment was also weighed down by looming concerns over interest rates, with the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy meeting in focus. Although the Fed is widely anticipated to keep interest rates steady, traders are expected to closely watch accompanying statements for insights into future rate decisions. Recent economic indicators have sparked apprehension that interest rates might remain unchanged for an extended duration.
On the commodities front, oil prices dropped significantly on Monday, driven by worries about potential tariffs and uncertain U.S. trade policies. Weak manufacturing data from China further dampened demand forecasts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March declined by $1.49 or 2 percent, closing at $73.17 per barrel.
