Thai Shares May Take Further Damage On Monday

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for King Bhumibol Memorial Day, the Thai stock market had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,450-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on inflation worries and geopolitical concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the resource and technology sectors, while the financials and industrials were mixed.

For the day, the index shed 5.24 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 1,450.75 after trading between 1,448.38 and 1,459.19. Volume was 9.842 billion shares worth 36.906 billion baht. There were 252 decliners and 191 gainers, with 193 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.90 percent, while Thailand Airport eased 0.36 percent, Asset World slid 0.54 percent, Banpu declined 1.25 percent, Bangkok Bank advanced 0.89 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.61 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.96 percent, CP All Public was down 0.42 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.52 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 1.54 percent, Gulf skidded 1.12 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.78 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.53 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tumbled 1.59 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.46 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.66 percent, Thai Oil slipped 0.50 percent, TTB Bank added 0.59 percent and Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging, True Corporation, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened higher on Friday but quickly headed south, although the Dow was able to recover before the close.

The Dow added 39.15 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,670.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.99 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,407.23 and the S&P 500 slumped 21.83 points or 0.50 percent to close at 4,327.78.

For the week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and S&P rose 0.5 percent.

Selling pressure emerged following the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing a slump in consumer sentiment and a surge in inflation expectations. The data generated some negative sentiment, although a decrease in treasury yields helped to limit the downside.

Traders also kept an eye on developments in the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

Oil prices rose sharply on Friday amid rising concerns about the potential impact on global crude supplies due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November spiked $4.78 or 5.8 percent at $87.69 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 6 percent in the week.