Steady Start Eyed For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,560-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the food, finance, service and industrial shares.

For the day, the index fell 4.43 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 1,561.51 after trading between 1,559.20 and 1,571.81. Volume was 11.656 billion shares worth 48.769 billion baht. There were 371 decliners and 139 gainers, with 142 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 0.46 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.34 percent, Asset World plunged 2.29 percent, Banpu plummeted 3.49 percent, Bangkok Bank dipped 0.29 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was down 0.89 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.58 percent, B. Grimm surrendered 2.21 percent, BTS Group slipped 0.68 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.48 percent, Energy Absolute skidded 1.19 percent, Gulf and Krung Thai Card both fell 0.52 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.77 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.52 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 0.98 percent, PTT gained 0.72 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 2.52 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.67 percent, SCG Packaging declined 0.61 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.32 percent, True Corporation stumbled 0.72 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.58 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, Thai Oil and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly higher as the major averages opened higher but quickly faded and hugged the unchanged line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 115.81 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 34,837.71, while the NASDAQ eased 3.19 points or 0.02 percent to close at 14,031.81 and the S&P 500 rose 8.11 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,515.77. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.4 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street followed the release of a mixed employment from the Labor Department. While the closely watched report showed modestly stronger than expected job growth in August, the report also showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate.

The increase in the unemployment rate added to optimism about the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged later this month, but traders continued to express some uncertainty about future meetings.

In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported a slowdown in the pace of contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Crude oil showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending recent gains over supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery surged $1.92 or 2.3 percent to $85.55 a barrel, closing higher for the seventh straight session. The price of crude oil soared 7.2 percent for the week.