Thai Stock Market May Crack 1,400-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 20 points or 1.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,385-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks, in particular. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financial, resource and technology companies were offset by weakness from the food, industrial and property sectors.

For the day, the index added 4.91 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 1,384.76 after trading between 1,383.28 and 1,390.27. Volume was 7.328 billion shares worth 29.719 billion baht. There were 251 decliners and 208 gainers, with 211 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport sank 0.84 percent, while Asset World slumped 1.14 percent, Banpu retreated 1.67 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.33 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.04 percent, BTS Group tumbled 1.63 percent, CP All Public climbed 0.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods fell 0.43 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 2.94 percent, Gulf strengthened 1.32 percent, Kasikornbank slid 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank rallied 2.38 percent, PTT improved 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production shed 0.40 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.97 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.85 percent, Siam Concrete skidded 1.19 percent, Thai Oil plummeted 5.36 percent, True Corporation soared 3.57 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Card, SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, PTT Oil & Retail, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 339.83 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 42,732.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 340.88 points or 1.77 percent to close at 19,621.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.92 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,942.47.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. Some traders also remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday amid optimism for the outlook for demand on recent data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $0.83 or 1.13 percent at $73.96 a barrel.