Thai Stock Market Likely Rangebound On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 15 points or 1.1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,390-point plateau and it figures to see little movement on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. The European shares were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index dropped 11.42 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 1,388.60 after trading between 1,388.11 and 1,403.80. Volume was 21.781 billion shares worth 43.131 billion baht. There were 342 decliners and 145 gainers, with 168 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info surrendered 1.83 percent, while Thailand Airport dipped 0.39 percent, Asset World plummeted 2.88 percent, Banpu tanked 4.65 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 1.34 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.87 percent, BTS Group slipped 1.65 percent, CP All Public fell 0.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods skidded 1.06 percent, Energy Absolute sank 2.44 percent, Kasikornbank plunged 2.43 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.62 percent, Krung Thai Card stumbled 1.69 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 1.10 percent, PTT lost 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.65 percent, SCG Packaging improved 0.79 percent, Siam Commercial Bank retreated 1.42 percent, Siam Concrete tumbled 1.85 percent, Thai Oil gained 0.45 percent, True Corporation declined 1.53 percent, TTB Bank slumped 1.09 percent and Bangkok Bank, PTT Global Chemical, Gulf and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but spent much of the day in the red before finally settling with slight gains. Despite the choppy trading, the S&P 500 and the Dow reached new record closing highs.

The Dow added 48.91 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,726.33, while the NASDAQ gained 37.07 points or 0.24 percent to end at 15,793.71 and the S&P 500 rose 2.85 points or 0.06 percent to close at 4,997.91.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about whether the markets can sustain their recent upward trend.

Traders also reacted to the latest earnings news as Arm Holdings (ARM) and entertainment giant Disney (DIS) surged after solid results, while PayPal (PYPL) tumbled after providing a disappointing forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Thursday, gaining for a fourth straight session as escalating tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about potential trade and supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.1 percent at $76.22 a barrel.