Thai Stock Market May Find Traction On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 15 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,620-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with bargain hunting likely to offset concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Thursday with damage across the board, particularly from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index dropped 16.98 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 1,621.95 after trading between 1,617.75 and 1,640.65. Volume was 24.508 billion shares worth 79 411 billion baht.

Among the actives, Advanced Info sank 0.78 percent, while Thailand Airport skidded 1.03 percent, Asset World dropped 0.89 percent, Banpu plunged 3.45 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.73 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway fell 0.57 percent, B. Grimm slid 0.68 percent, BTS Group slumped 1.19 percent, CP All Public declined 1.22 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 0.96 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 2.05 percent, Gulf surrendered 0.98 percent, IRPC stumbled 2.34 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.65 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 2.49 percent, PTT Oil & Retail fell 0.92 percent, PTT retreated 2.00 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.48 percent, PTT Global Chemical slumped 2.11 percent, SCG Packaging surrendered 1.76 percent, Siam Commercial Bank was down 0.90 percent, Siam Concrete eased 0.28 percent, Thai Oil plunged 2.88 percent, True Corporation sank 1.32 percent and TTB Bank gave away 0.79 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but a late-day rally pushed the Down and S&P 500 into the green at the close.

The Dow added 145.99 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 31,656.42, while the NASDAQ slipped 31.08 points or 0.26 percent to end at 11,785.13 and the S&P 500 rose 11.85 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,966.85.

Bargain hunting contributed to the rebound on Wall Street, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages once again fell to their lowest levels in over a month.

The early selloff on Wall Street also came as the latest labor and manufacturing data was seen as confirming the Federal Reserve's stance that it can remain aggressive with the tightening of policy.

With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming later today, the Labor Department this morning unexpectedly reported a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures ended sharply lower Thursday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand and worries that aggressive rate hikes by major central banks may lead to a global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $2.94 or 3.3 percent at $86.61 a barrel.