Thai Shares Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long weekend for Songkran Day, the Thai stock market had halted the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,590-point plateau and it may take further damage on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower as inflation concerns war with support from oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday as losses from the financials, service companies and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the resource shares.

For the day, the index dipped 4.43 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 1,592.67 after trading between 1,580.71 and 1,598.27. Volume was 11.543 billion shares worth 44.757 billion baht. There were 877 decliners and 487 gainers, with 542 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info stumbled 0.94 percent, while Thailand Airport fell 0.34 percent, Banpu lost 0.50 percent, Bangkok Bank dipped 0.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical plunged 3.28 percent, Bangkok Expressway increased 1.12 percent, BTS Group rallied 2.01 percent, CP All Public slid 0.40 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods slumped 0.48 percent, Energy Absolute gained 0.65 percent, Gulf was down 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.74 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.80 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.94 percent, PTT Exploration and Production strengthened 1.57 percent, PTT Global Chemical skidded 1.13 percent, SCG Packaging dropped 1.10 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete improved 1.28 percent, Thai Oil retreated 0.94 percent, TTB Bank plummeted 3.45 percent and PTT, Krung Thai Bank, Asset World, B. Grimm and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages shook off early support on Friday, quickly heading south and staying in the red throughout the day.

The Dow tumbled 143.23 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 33,886.47, while the NASDAQ sank 42.83 points or 0.35 percent to close at 12,123.47 and the S&P 500 fell 8.58 points or 0.21 percent to end at 4,137.64. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent and the NASAQ rose 0.3 percent.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street coincided with the release of a report from the University of Michigan showing a jump in inflation expectations in the month of April.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales fell more than expected in March, while the Federal Reserve said U.S. industrial production increased more than expected in March, although the increase was largely due to a spike in utilities output.

Crude oil futures settled modestly higher Friday, lifted by the International Energy Agency's forecast that global crude demand will grow to a record 101.9 million barrels per day this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May rose $0.36 or 0.4 percent at $82.52 a barrel.