Thai Stock Market May Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dipped more than 7 points or 0.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,370-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index rose 2.61 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 1,371.90 after trading between 1,365.92 and 1,372.32. Volume was 15.573 billion shares worth 36.380 billion baht. There were 240 gainers and 229 decliners, with 192 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport spiked 1.14 percent, while Asset World jumped 1.91 percent, Banpu dropped 0.91 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.09 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway accelerated 1.23 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.94 percent, CP All Public rallied 1.29 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.49 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.67 percent, Kasikornbank rose 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.60 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 1.16 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.55 percent, PTT Exploration and Production perked 0.66 percent, SCG Packaging plunged 2.36 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 0.40 percent, Thai Oil slumped 0.93 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.57 percent and PTT Global Chemical, Advanced Info, True Corporation, Gulf, PTT and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.