Higher Open Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost a dozen points or 0.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,370-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with many believing that the heavy selling earlier this week was overdone. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the industrial, resource and service sectors were capped by weakness from the food, finance and technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 3.44 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,367.96 after trading between 1,357.39 and 1,372.83. Volume was 21.048 billion shares worth 42.066 billion baht. There were 226 gainers and 224 decliners, with 196 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.46 percent, while Thailand Airport surged 3.35 percent, Asset World advanced 1.01 percent, Banpu increased 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank sank 0.71 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.90 percent, BTS Group tumbled 1.67 percent, CP All Public rallied 0.96 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.54 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.26 percent, Gulf declined 1.15 percent, Kasikornbank lost 0.42 percent, Krung Thai Card skidded 1.14 percent, PTT Oil & Retail and TTB Bank both added 0.56 percent, PTT rallied1.48 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.49 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.11 percent, Thai Oil sank 0.91 percent, True Corporation improved 0.83 percent and Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday and largely accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 369.54 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 38,519.84, while the NASDAQ jumped 197.63 points or 1.30 percent to end at 15,361.64 and the S&P 500 gained 60.54 points or 1.25 percent to close at 4,906.19.

The rebound on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels after Wednesday's selloff. The Federal Reserve signals that an interest rate cut in March is unlikely, but economists believe it is a matter of "when, not if" the central bank will eventually lower rates.

A continued decrease by treasury yields may also have contributed to the buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling to its lowest levels in over a month.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly saw a modest increase last week. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity increased in January but continues to indicate contraction.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday with traders following the negotiations of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, although a possible pick-up in energy demand helped limit the downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March sank $2.03 or 2.7 percent at $73.82 a barrel.