Thai Stock Market May Turn Lower Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 15 points or 1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,530-point plateau although it's likely to see renewed selling pressure on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains soft on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the industrial, technology, food, service and financial shares.

For the day, the index added 9.25 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 1,528.81 after trading between 1,512.08 and 1,531.08. Volume was 14.113 billion shares worth 53.040 billion baht. There were 324 gainers and 145 decliners, with 171 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.45 percent, while Thailand Airport gathered 0.71 percent, Asset World added 0.50 percent, Banpu retreated 1.10 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.56 percent, B. Grimm increased 0.69 percent, BTS Group and PTT both perked 0.70 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rallied 1.57 percent, Energy Absolute and Siam Commercial Bank both rose 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.50 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.09 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.99 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.56 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.05 percent, SCG Packaging improved 1.35 percent, Siam Concrete strengthened 1.28 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.44 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.50 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.56 percent and Bangkok Bank, Gulf, CP All Public and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 290.91 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 34,474.83, while the NASDAQ slumped 157.70 points or 1.17 percent to close at 13,316.93 and the S&P 500 sank 33.97 points or 0.77 percent to end at 4,370.36.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors continue to digest Wednesday's Federal Reserve minutes, which suggest the central bank will hold interest rates higher for longer to fight inflation.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline last week. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index saw a big jump in August.

Crude oil futures were up on Thursday, snapping a three-session losing streak on news of stimulus measures from China's central bank. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $1.01 or 1.3 percent at $80.39 a barrel.