Additional Support Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 20 points or 1.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,380-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on growing optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished barely higher on Friday as gains from the financials and industrials were offset by weakness from the service and food sectors.

For the day, the index perked 0.13 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,380.31 after trading between 1,374.06 and 1,384.13. Volume was 12.837 billion shares worth 37.626 billion baht. There were 235 gainers and 214 decliners, with 198 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info increased 0.46 percent, while Thailand Airport retreated 1.68 percent, Asset World gained 0.54 percent, Banpu improved 0.67 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tanked 1.90 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 0.64 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.99 percent, BTS Group slumped 2.07 percent, CP All Public soared 2.40 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plummeted 4.02 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.69 percent, Gulf stumbled 1.09 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.17 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.07 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 1.51 percent, PTT accelerated 1.44 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tumbled 1.98 percent, SCG Packaging strengthened 1.30 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.50 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.35 percent, Thai Oil lost 0.49 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.89 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.65 percent and Krung Thai Bank and PTT Global Chemical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, quickly moving firmly into the green and staying that way for the remainder of the session.

The Dow spiked 294.61 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 36,245.50, while the NASDAQ rallied 78.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 14,305.03 and the S&P 500 added 26.83 points or 0.59 percent to end at 4,594.63.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 increased 0.8 percent and the NASDAQ rose 0.4 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing continued contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Some analysts suggested that the weaker-than-expected ISM survey may spur expectations that the Fed's next move is an interest rate cut.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, extending losses from the previous session amid mounting skepticism over OPEC output cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.89 or 2.5 percent at $74.07 a barrel. Oil prices have now fallen in six straight weeks.