Thai Stock Market Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market moved lower again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 15 points or 1.1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,465-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on solid earnings news and renewed optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the food, consumer, finance and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 1.87 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 1,464.17 after trading between 1,459.26 and 1,466.91. Volume was 10.392 billion shares worth 32.853 billion baht. There were 284 decliners and 162 gainers, with 208 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.09 percent, while Thailand Airport increased 0.82 percent, Asset World climbed 1.08 percent, Banpu added 0.80 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.68 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.91 percent, Bangkok Expressway collected 1.27 percent, BTS Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods both fell 0.40 percent, CP All Public rose 0.40 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.27 percent, Gulf slumped 0.75 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Bank advanced 0.98 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.52 percent, PTT gained 0.75 percent, PTT Global Chemical jumped 1.92 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.88 percent, Siam Concrete slid 0.48 percent, Thai Oil rallied 1.22 percent, True Corporation sank 0.81 percent and TTB Bank, SCG Packaging, B. Grimm, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow jumped 288.73 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 42,052.19, while the NASDAQ added 144.77 points of 0.80 percent to end at 18,239.92 and the S&P 500 rose 23.35 points or 0.41 percent to close at 5,728.80.

For the week, the Dow eased 0.2 percent, the S&P slumped 1.4 percent and the NASDAQ stumbled 1.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies like Intel (INTC) and Amazon (AMZN).

Traders also digested the Labor Department's closely watched jobs report, which showed weaker than expected job growth in October. The data raised some concerns about the strength of the economy, but the report also led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Friday amid concerns about tensions in the Middle East after a report said Iran is planning further attacks on Israel. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $0.23 or 0.33 percent at $69.49 a barrel.