Continued Strength Expected For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Friday's holiday for Queen Sirikit's birthday, the Thai stock market had rebounded on Thursday - one day after snapping the five-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,620-point plateau and it's predicted to extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for economic growth and easing inflation. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher on Friday and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, profit taking among the technology stocks and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 5.05 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 1,622.26 after trading between 1,612.61 and 1,626.28. Volume was 20.051 billion shares worth 78.265.71 billion baht. There were 923 decliners and 790 gainers, with 518 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info retreated 1.24 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.69 percent, Asset World jumped 1.92 percent, Banpu gained 0.76 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surged 4.63 percent, Bunrungrad Hospital soared 4.40 percent, CP All Public tumbled 2.04 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.95 percent, Energy Absolute climbed 1.18 percent, IRPC shed 0.58 percent, KCE Electronics dropped 0.87 percent, Krung Thai Bank strengthened 1.25 percent, PTT perked 0.68 percent, PTT Exploration and Production improved 0.96 percent, PTT Global Chemical skidded 1.07 percent, SCG Packaging rallied 2.65 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.27 percent, Thai Oil accelerated 1.91 percent, True Corporation plunged 2.00 percent, TTB Bank gathered 0.84 percent and Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Expressway, BTS Group, Gulf, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Card and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and accelerated as the session progressed, ending near daily highs.

The Dow surged 424/35 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 33,761.05, while the NASDAQ soared 267.29 points or 2.09 percent to end at 13,047.19 and the S&P 500 jumped 72.88 points or 1.73 percent to close at 4,280.15.

For the week, the S&P 500 skyrocketed 3.3 percent for its fourth straight weekly gain, while the NASDAQ spiked 3.1 percent and the Dow gained 2.9 percent.

Optimism that inflation has peaked contributed to the continued strength on Wall Street following tamer than expected readings last week on consumer and producer prices.

Adding to the positive sentiment about inflation, the Labor Department said U.S. import prices fell more than expected in July. Buying interest was also generated by a report from the University of Michigan showing U.S. consumer sentiment has improved much more than expected in August.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lowered its oil demand forecast for 2022. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $2.25 or 2.4 percent at $92.09 a barrel. For the week, WIT rose 3.5 percent.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide Q2 figures for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts calling for an increase of 0.9 percent on quarter and 3.1 percent on year. That follows the 1.1 percent quarterly expansion and the 2.2 percent yearly gain in the previous three months.