Rally May Stall For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market had climbed higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost a dozen points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,600-point plateau, although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, with weakness expected from the technology and oil sectors. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financials and a mixed performance from the energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 2.34 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,601.09 after trading between 1,595.89 and 1,603.86. Volume was 15.868 billion shares worth 58.838 billion baht. There were 912 decliners and 680 gainers, with 558 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.70 percent, while Asset World dropped 0 .99 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.52 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.92 percent, B. Grimm tumbled 1.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.80 percent, Energy Absolute lost 0.61 percent, Gulf fell 0.51 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.91 percent, PTT Oil & Retail advanced 0.93 percent, PTT perked 1.43 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.27 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 1.12 percent, SCG Packaging increased 1.37 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 2.48 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.55 percent, Thai Oil slumped 0.97 percent, True Corporation gained 2.04 percent and TTB Bank, Advanced Info, Banpu, Bangkok Expressway, BTS Group, CP All Public, IRPC and Krung Thai Card were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower as the major averages opened deep in the red on Friday and recovered somewhat, although only the Dow peeked up into positive territory.

The Dow added 76.67 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,803.47, while the NASDAQ sank 63.04 points or 0.50 percent to end at 12,657.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.75 points or 0.16 percent to close at 4,145.19.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the S&P rose 0.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.1 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came as traders reacted to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report - which showed employment in the U.S. jumped by much more than expected in July, leading to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

While the data paints a positive picture of the labor market, the report may also give the Federal Reserve confidence they can continue aggressively raising interest rates without causing a recession.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, lifted by the strong jobs report, but still posted a weekly loss amid concerns about demand due to economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.47 or 0.5 percent at $89.01 a barrel.