Thai Bourse May Reclaim 1,400-Point Plateau

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,395-point plateau although it's expected to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to easing Treasury yields. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the food, consumption, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index slumped 11.79 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 1,396.38 after trading between 1,394.71 and 1,406.77. Volume was 15.665 billion shares worth 42.973 billion baht. There were 300 decliners and 156 gainers, with 199 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.98 percent, while Thailand Airport was down 0.74 percent, Asset World stumbled 1.33 percent, Banpu soared 2.65 percent, Bangkok Bank rallied 1.40 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.77 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.60 percent, B. Grimm plunged 2.63 percent, BTS Group slipped 0.81 percent, CP All Public dipped 0.44 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.54 percent, Energy Absolute improved 0.70 percent, Gulf slumped 1.14 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.08 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 1.08 percent, PTT surrendered 1.42 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical lost 0.61 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.53 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.38 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.72 percent, True Corporation sank 0.62 percent, TTB Bank added 0.55 percent and Siam Commercial Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages shook off early weakness and climbed well into the green, although the Dow failed late and ended in the red.

The Dow eased 2.43 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 38,459.08, while the NASDAQ surged 271.84 points or 1.68 percent to end at 16,442.20 and the S&P 500 added 38.42 points or 0.74 percent to close at 5,199.06.

The rally by the NASDAQ and S&P 500 seemed to coincide with the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $22 billion worth of 30-year bonds, which saw average demand.

Treasury yields pulled back off their highs following the release of the results, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note giving ground. The Treasury revealed below average demand for this month's three-year and 10-year note auctions earlier in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices increased in line with estimates in March.

Crude oil prices dropped from five-month highs on Thursday amid concerns the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for a longer period due to inflationary pressures. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended down by $1.19 at $85.02 a barrel.