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 given up more than 20 points or 1.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,285-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative on continued uncertainty regarding the end of the U.S. government shutdown. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the industrial, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index rose 2.63 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 1,287.44 after trading between 1,282.06 and 1,292.42. Volume was 7.003 billion shares worth 34.627 billion baht. There were 267 decliners and 194 gainers, with 190 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.63 percent, while Thailand Airport slumped 0.60 percent, Banpu slumped 1.23 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surged 4.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway soared 2.70 percent, B. Grimm tumbled 1.97 percent, CP All Public spiked 2.87 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.47 percent, Energy Absolute tanked 2.05 percent, Gulf shed 0.59 percent, Kasikornbank and TTB Bank both collected 0.55 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.14 percent, PTT improved 0.83 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.47 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.49 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 1.13 percent and Thai Oil, True Corporation, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Card, Siam Concrete, Asset World and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is rough as the major averages opened slightly lower on Thursday but accelerated deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow plunged 779.86 points or 1.62 percent to finish at 47,474.96, while the NASDAQ tanked 536.10 points or 2.29 percent to end at 22,870.36 and the S&P 500 sank 114.20 points or 1.67 percent to close at 6,736.72.

The Dow pulled back well off the record closing high set on Wednesday amid a steep drop by shares of Disney (DIS), which came under pressure after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates but weaker than expected revenues.

Valuation concerns also continued to weigh on tech stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) moving sharply lower along with tech heavyweights like Broadcom (AVGO) and Alphabet (GOOGL).

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected uncertainty whether key U.S. economic will be released following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Crude oil edged higher on Thursday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has renewed confidence in consumption and energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.22 or 0.38 percent at $58.71 per barrel.