Lower Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 50 points or 4.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,120-point plateau and it's expected to see further downside on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were closed for the July 4 holiday, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index sank 7.27 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 1,119.94 after trading between 1,115.37 and 1,128.08. Volume was 7.625 billion shares worth 7.794 billion baht. There were 245 decliners and 213 gainers, with 183 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.36 percent, while Thailand Airport crashed 3.20 percent, Asset World added 0.52 percent, Banpu stumbled 1.89 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.05 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 1.25 percent, B. Grimm slumped 0.89 percent, BTS Group cratered 1.69 percent, CP All Public slid 0.56 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.93 percent, Energy Absolute declined 0.86 percent, Gulf rallied 1.23 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.46 percent, Krung Thai Card plunged 3.30 percent, PTT Oil & Retail and Thai Oil both contracted 1.77 percent, PTT lost 0.82 percent, PTT Exploration and Production weakened 1.80 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.90 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 3.33 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.83 percent, Siam Concrete dropped 0.87 percent, True Corporation tanked 2.70 percent, TTB Bank retreated 1.55 percent and Bangkok Dusit Medical was unchanged.

There is no lead from Wall Street, but the European stock markets were down amid concerns about U.S. tariffs.

With the July 9 deadline to strike deals with the U.S. just a few days away, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that his government will send letters to trading partners outlining unilateral tariffs that will take effect on August 1.

The EU, which is pushing for an agreement in principle ahead of July 9, has acknowledged that a comprehensive deal is unlikely to be reached by the deadline.

There is also concern over Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which will add at least $3.3 trillion to the country's already-mammoth national debt.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday on easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.51 or 0.76 percent to finish at $66.49 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release June numbers for consumer prices later today. Overall inflation is expected to dip 0.12 percent on year after inking 0.57 percent in May. Core CPI is seen higher by an annual 1.10 percent, up fractionally from 1.09 percent in the previous month.