(RTTNews) - The losing streak has hit four sessions now for the Thai stock market, which has given away nearly 40 points or 5.4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished just below the 680-point plateau, but now analysts are forecasting a modest recovery at the opening of trade on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is modestly positive, thanks to a recovery in the price of commodities. Financials and steel stocks also are expected to provide support. The European and U.S. markets finished firmly in positive territory, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

The SET finished sharply lower again on Monday as the energy stocks were a key drag on the index - while gains from the financials helped to pare the losses.

For the day, the index declined 8.02 points or 1.17 percent to finish at 677.22 after trading between 667.52 and 677.22. Volume was 2.644 billion shares worth 20.208 billion baht. There were 254 decliners and 95 gainers, with 101 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, energy giant PTT was down 2.92 percent, while PTT Exploration and Production plunged 5.52 percent, PTT Aromatic dropped 1.41 percent, coal producer Banpu fell 2.74 percent, Siam Concrete added 1.96 percent, Kasikornbank gained 0.96 percent and Siam Commercial Bank was up 0.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly optimistic as stocks were able to eke out solid gains on Monday after reaction to a number of economic reports and some Fed comments on the financial sector prompted some volatility. The major averages all finished in positive territory, recovering some of last week's losses.

While the markets saw early strength, stocks gave back some ground after Jon Greenlee, associate director of the Federal Reserve's division of banking supervision and regulation, revealed concerns over the state of the financial system. Greenlee said the U.S. banking system is "far from robust," sparking a pullback in the financial sector.

Separately, the Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo remarked that even though the economy has begun to show signs of life, the outlook on the magnitude of the recovery should be cautiously optimistic.

The day's initial buying interest came after the Institute for Supply Management released its report on manufacturing activity in the month of October, showing that activity expanded for the third consecutive month amid a jump in production and employment.

The ISM said its index of activity in the manufacturing sector rose to 55.7 in October from 52.6 in September, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. Economists had been expecting a more modest increase by the index to a reading of 53.0

Additionally, pending home sales rose for a record eighth straight month in September, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors, with the pending home sales index rising to its highest level since December of 2006. The headline pending home sales index rose 6.1 percent to 110.1 in September from a reading of 103.8 in August. The increase in the index came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down 0.1 percent.

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