Lower Open Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had improved 7 points or 0.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,375-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, largely on profit taking following recent gains. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the food, finance, industry, property, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 8.28 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 1,377.72 after trading between 1,373.64 and 1,383.38. Volume was 17.385 billion shares worth 51.503 billion baht. There were 289 gainers and 209 decliners, with 153 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.49 percent, while Thailand Airport declined 1.49 percent, Asset World dropped 0.96 percent, Banpu spiked 0.94 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 0.63 percent, B. Grimm soared 1.89 percent, BTS Group surged 2.52 percent, CP All Public tumbled 2.87 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.35 percent, Energy Absolute skyrocketed 3.85 percent, Gulf gained 2.42 percent, Kasikornbank rallied 1.59 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.59 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.16 percent, PTT perked 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 0.65 percent, SCG Packaging accelerated 1.63 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.95 percent, Siam Concrete increased 0.81 percent, Thai Oil retreated 1.44 percent, True Corporation improved 1.19 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.75 percent and Bangkok Bank, PTT Global Chemical, PTT Oil & Retail and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up soft as the major averages spent most of Thursday in the green before a late wave of profit taking nudged them under water.

The Dow shed 38.62 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 39,869.38, while the NASDAQ sank 44.07 points or 0.26 percent to close at 16,698.32 and the S&P dipped 11.05 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,297.10.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected an extension of the rally seen during Wednesday's session, which came amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates following tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, with traders pausing to lock in recent gains.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a pullback by initial jobless claims last week. Also, a separate Labor Department report showed U.S. import prices jumped more than expected in April, and industrial production came in flat last month.

Oil prices advanced on Thursday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. Hopes of an interest rate cut in September contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.