Mild Upside Expected For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has inched higher in consecutive trading days, gathering just over 4 points or 0.25 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,610-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index rose 3.79 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 1,613.78 after trading between 1,613.67 and 1,624.36. Volume was 11.373 billion shares worth 70.640 billion baht. There were 261 gainers and 176 decliners, with 217 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained solidly in the green throughout the trading day, slightly off session highs.

The Dow rallied 517.80 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 53,277.01, while the NASDAQ climbed 113.29 points or 0.43 percent to end at 26,180.46 and the S&P 500 rose 33.21 points or 0.43 percent to close at 7,674.37.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.4 percent and the Dow slumped 0.9 percent.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting after the major averages moved sharply lower on Thursday amid an extended surge in crude oil prices and a rebound in bond yields.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, heightening supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.44 or 0.51 percent at $87.27 per barrel.