The Thai stock market on Tuesday saw an end to the five-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 30 points or 3.3 percent on its way to yet another fresh 33-month closing high. The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished just above the 890-point plateau, but now investors are bracing for further weakness when the market kicks off trade on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is grim, thanks mainly to more bad economic news out of the United States. Oil stocks are expected to remain under pressure, while the steel, technology, finance and airline stocks are also likely to show broadly based weakness. The European and U.S. markets finished sharply lower, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.
The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday, in line with other regional declines. Energy stocks remained soft, although the financials provided a measure of support.
For the day, the index shed 4.33 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 890.45 after trading between 885.97 and 898.20. Volume was 13.139 billion shares worth 38.409 billion baht. There were 233 decliners and 151 gainers, with 119 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, energy giant PTT was down 2.27 percent, while PTT Exploration and Production plunged 3.04 percent and Siam Commercial Bank added 0.27 percent.
The lead from Wall Street remains heavily negative as stocks fell by sharp margins on Tuesday, thanks to a much steeper than expected decline in July existing home sales. The decline pulled the major averages down to their worst closing levels in seven weeks.
Driving the selling pressure was data from the National Association of Realtors showing that existing home sales fell by 27.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.83 million units in July from a downwardly revised 5.26 million unit rate in June.
Economists had expected existing home sales to fall by about 12.1 percent to 4.72 million from the 5.37 million originally reported for the previous month. With the bigger than expected decrease, existing home sales fell to their lowest level since the total existing-home sales series launched in 1999.
In corporate news, Dell (DELL) dropped by 2.9 percent amid reports that the computer maker is preparing to boost its offer for 3PAR (PAR) after its $18 per share offer was topped by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which offered $24 per share.
Canadian based fertilizer firm Potash (POT) also garnered market attention as a takeover target after rejecting BHP Billiton's offer, while Australia's Rio Tinto (RTP) and China's Sinochem International are said to be preparing bids.
The Dow fell by 133.73 points or 1.3 percent to 10,040.45, the NASDAQ dropped by 35.87 points or 1.7 percent to 2,123.76 and the S&P 500 declined by 15.49 points or 1.5 percent to 1,051.87.
In economic news, the central bank of Thailand will conclude its meeting on monetary policy and announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to raise rates by 25 basis points, from 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.