Thai Stock Market May Hand Back Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Thai stock market now rests just above the 1,400-point plateau, although it's likely to slip back beneath that support again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower in this holiday-shortened week, with technology stocks likely to be a key drag. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the food, industrial, property, resource and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the financials.

For the day, the index rose 3.66 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,401.46 after trading between 1,395.15 and 1,410.02. Volume was 8.492 billion shares worth 29.955 billion baht. There were 233 gainers and 205 decliners, with 221 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 0.70 percent, while Asset World added 0.56 percent, B. Grimm gained 0.52 percent, BTS Group surged 3.54 percent, CP All Public slipped 0.44 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.74 percent, Gulf increased 0.84 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.64 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.47 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.51 percent, PTT strengthened 1.60 percent, PTT Exploration and Production retreated 0.84 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.10 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.85 percent, Siam Concrete perked 0.29 percent, Thai Oil climbed 0.90 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.92 percent, TTB Bank slumped 1.08 percent and Bangkok Bank, SCG Packaging, Banpu, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Thailand Airport and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and remained that way throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 333.59 point or 0.77 percent to finish at 42,992.21, while the NASDAQ slumped 298.37 points or 1.49 percent to close at 19.722.03 and the S&P 500 sank 66.75 points or 1.11 percent to end at 5,970.84.

For the week, the Dow picked up 1.4 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P both advanced 1.5 percent.

The numbers may have been a bit skewed by light volume, with may investors away from their desks on holiday between Christmas and New Year's.

On the economic front, data showed that U.S. retail inventories, excluding autos, increased by 0.6 percent on month in November, following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent rise in the prior month, according to preliminary estimates.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $70.60 a barrel, gaining about 1.4 percent.