Renewed Support Tipped For Thai Shares

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 10 points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,370-point plateau although it may move back to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index sank 10.49 points or 0.76 percent to finish at 1,370.34 after trading between 1,368.81 and 1,383.60. Volume was 15.812 billion shares worth 33.679 billion baht. There were 303 decliners and 171 gainers, with 191 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 0.97 percent, while Thailand Airport dipped 0.38 percent, Banpu tumbled 1.79 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was down 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway gave up 1.23 percent, BTS Group surrendered 1.75 percent, CP All Public eased 0.46 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods and TTB Bank both skidded 1.09 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 1.44 percent, Gulf gained 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Card dropped 1.08 percent, PTT Oil & Retail weakened 1.12 percent, PTT shed 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 1.32 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.30 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.86 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.44 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.44 percent, True Corporation plummeted 3.75 percent and Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Asset World, B. Grimm and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher but then spent most of the day hugging both side of the line before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 47.29 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 39,807.37, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.06 points or 0.12 percent to close at 16,379.46 and the S&P 500 rose 5.86 points or 0.11 percent to end at 5,254.35. For the holiday-shortened week, the Dow added 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of a Commerce Department report on personal income and spending later today Friday that includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

While the inflation data could impact the outlook for interest rates, traders will have to wait until next Monday to react to the report due to the markets being closed for Good Friday.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week. The Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew more than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2023. And the National Association of Realtors noted a rebound by pending home sales in February.

Oil futures rallied on Thursday, lifted by a likely drop in supply levels due to OPEC production cuts and continued attacks by Ukraine on Russian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May spiked $1.82 or 2.2 percent at $83.17 a barrel. WTI futures gained 3.15 percent for the week.