Thai Stock Market Due For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, slumping almost 40 points or 2.8 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,375-point plateau although it's looking at a firm lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and oil companies expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished slightly lower on Thursday as losses from the financials and industrials were mitigated by support from the food and technology companies.

For the day, the index slid 2.72 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 1,377.93 after trading between 1,374.08 and 1,387.53. Volume was 21.832 billion shares worth 50.995 billion baht. There were 243 gainers and 223 decliners, with 184 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 0.94 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.41 percent, Asset World surrendered 1.99 percent, Banpu surged 3.15 percent, Bangkok Bank tanked 2.03 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was down 0.92 percent, Bangkok Expressway plunged 1.31 percent, B. Grimm and True Corporation both advanced 0.95 percent, CP All Public weakened 1.40 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.54 percent, Energy Absolute slumped 1.89 percent, Gulf skidded 1.10 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank stumbled 1.66 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.18 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 0.54 percent, PTT perked 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dropped 1.01 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.71 percent, SCG Packaging tumbled 1.55 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.37 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.92 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.63 percent and Siam Commercial Bank and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but all ended up firmly in the green by the day's end.

The Dow advanced 201.94 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 37,468.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.03 points or 1.35 percent to close at 15,055.65 and the S&P 500 gained 41.73 points or 0.88 percent to end at 4,780.94.

The rebound on Wall Street came despite a continued increase by treasury yields, which moved higher after the Labor Department noted an unexpected weekly decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.

Tech stocks helped lead the way higher on Wall Street, with shares of Apple (AAPL) jumping 3.3 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

A rally by semiconductor stocks also contributed to the surge by the NASDAQ as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 3.4 percent. Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also showed notable moves to the upside.

Oil prices climbed higher Thursday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and on higher forecasts for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rallied $1.52 at $74.08 a barrel.