Little Movement Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 25 points or 1.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,535-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.

The global forecast is murky, with support from technology stocks likely offset by concern over the ongoing U.S. debt ceiling situation. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the energy, financial and industrial stocks were offset by support from the food and technology companies.

For the day, the index eased 1.09 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 1,535.42 after trading between 1,529.64 and 1,541.06. Volume was 13.132 billion shares worth 48.515 billion baht. There were 245 decliners and 210 gainers, with 191 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.47 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.71 percent, Asset World surrendered 1.90 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway surrendered 2.42 percent, B. Grimm and BTS Group both lost 0.66 percent, CP All Public sank 0.79 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods spiked 2.51 percent, Gulf fell 0.52 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.10 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.52 percent, Krung Thai Card tanked 2.31 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 2.37 percent, PTT weakened 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was down 1.00 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 3.33 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 5.39 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.97 percent, Siam Concrete tumbled 1.79 percent, Thai Oil stumbled 1.60 percent, True Corporation retreated 1.48 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.94 percent and Banpu and Energy Absolute were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished the same way.

The Dow shed 35.27 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 32,764.65, while the NASDAQ surged 213.93 points or 1.71 percent to end at 12,698.09 and the S&P 500 gained 36/04 points or 0.88 percent to close at 4,151.28.

The rebound on Wall Street reflected strong earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected results and forecasting Q2 revenue well above estimates - resulting in a surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Traders also kept an eye on any developments in the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations amid lingering concerns about a potential default. Reflecting the default concerns, Fitch Ratings placed the United States "AAA" credit on "rating watch negative," signaling downside risks to U.S. creditworthiness.

In economic news, a revision from the Commerce Department showed economic growth in the U.S. slowed less than estimated in the first quarter of 2023. Also, the Labor Department showed a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak, after Russia's Deputy Prime Minister said Russia won't agree on any additional cut in crude production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $2.51 or 3.4 percent at $71.83 a barrel.