Lower Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, adding more than a dozen points or 1 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,140-point plateau, although it's expected to open in the red on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid lingering uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished mostly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the food, consumer, finance and industrial sectors were dented by weakness from the resource and technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 2.38 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 1,141.28 after trading between 1,133.90 and 1,145.19. Volume was 6.435 billion shares worth 29.808 billion baht. There were 356 gainers and 160 decliners, with 153 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.41 percent, while Thailand Airport weakened 1.31 percent, Asset World improved 0.92 percent, Banpu strengthened 1.40 percent, Bangkok Bank soared 3.37 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skidded 0.86 percent, Bangkok Expressway climbed 1.74 percent, B. Grimm rallied 1.89 percent, BTS Group gained 2.54 percent, CP All Public lost 0.50 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tumbled 1.96 percent, Energy Absolute surged 5.88 percent, Gulf declined 1.59 percent, Kasikornbank surrendered 2.27 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.87 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.10 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.79 percent, PTT shed 0.80 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.49 percent, PTT Global Chemical skyrocketed 7.02 percent, Siam Commercial Bank spiked 2.20 percent, Siam Concrete advanced 0.99 percent, Thai Oil accelerated 2.55 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.85 percent, TTB Bank collected 2.08 percent and SCG Packaging was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and finished largely the same way, with a downside bias.

The Doe slumped 527.16 points or 1.33 percent to finish at 39,142.23, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.71 points or 0.13 percent to close at 16,286.45 and the S&P 500 rose 7.00 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,282.70.

The markets are closed for Good Friday; for the holiday-shortened week, the S&P retreated 1.5 percent, the NASDAQ stumbled 2.6 percent and the Dow declined 2.7 percent.

The steep drop by the Dow reflected a nosedive by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH), which plummeted 22.4 percent after the company reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings and cut its full-year profit forecast.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. pulled back much more than expected in March.

Crude oil futures moved sharply higher on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about sanctions on Iranian oil exports. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery spiked $2.21 or 3.5 percent to $64.68 a barrel.