Thai Stock Market Tipped To Build On Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday halted the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,675-point plateau and it's poised to add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index gained 10.00 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 1,673.86 after trading between 1,665.49 and 1,677.79. Volume was 16.399 billion shares worth 73.838 billion baht. There were 868 gainers and 622 decliners, with 506 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.67 percent, while Banpu plunged 3.91 percent, Bangkok Bank spiked 2.95 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 2.54 percent, Bangkok Expressway climbed 1.04 percent, BTS Group increased 0.59 percent, CP All Public jumped 1.81 percent, Energy Absolute fell 0.27 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.10 percent, Krung Thai Card accelerated 2.17 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.86 percent, PTT perked 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production shed 0.59 percent, PTT Global Chemical lost 0.54 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.25 percent, Siam Commercial Bank surged 2.26 percent, Siam Concrete was up 0.29 percent, True Corporation improved 1.24 percent, TTB Bank soared 2.11 percent and Advanced Info, Asset World, B. Grimm, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but only accelerated as the day continued, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 700.51 points or 2.13 percent to finish at 33,630.61, while the NASDAQ soared 264.09 points or 2.56 percent to end at 10,569.29 and the S&P 500 jumped 86.98 points or 2.28 percent to close at 3,895.08.

Stocks rallied as investors hoped that the report from the Institute for Supply Management showing U.S. service sector activity unexpectedly contracted in December will convince the Federal Reserve to slow its aggressive pace on interest rate hikes.

Adding to the positive sentiment, the Labor Department reported that employment increased more than expected in December, while the jobless rate fell to a 50-year low.

Crude oil prices settled flat on Friday as fears of a global recession raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $73.77 a barrel, up just 10 cents from the previous close.