Higher Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting almost 50 points or 4.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,125-point plateau and it's expected to see further upside on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to better than expected U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 11.52 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 1,127.21 after trading between 1,113.77 and 1,127.66. Volume was 7.802 billion shares worth 34.920 billion baht. There were 380 gainers and 108 decliners., with 162 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.36 percent, while Thailand Airport soared 3.31 percent, Asset World surged 5.49 percent, Banpu spiked 2.42 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.35 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical declined 1.46 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 0.84 percent, B. Grimm accelerated 3.70 percent, BTS Group increased 1.14 percent, CP All Public rose 0.56 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods slumped 1.37 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 3.57 percent, Gulf gained 0.62 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.46 percent, Krung Thai Card advanced 0.98 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.88 percent, PTT sank 0.81 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skidded 0.89 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.45 percent, SCG Packaging shed 0.55 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.80 percent, True Corporation tumbled 1.77 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.05 percent and Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the shortened session ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The Dow rallied 344.11 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,828.53, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.97 points or 1.02 percent to close at 20,601.10 and the S&P 500 gained 51.93 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,279.35.

The continued strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department report showing U.S. employment increased more than expected in June. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May.

Traders reacted positively to the data even though the stronger than expected job growth is likely to reduce the chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil settled lower on Thursday as excess U.S. inventories and an upcoming OPEC+ meeting triggered supply side concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.45, to settle at $67 per barrel.