Rally May Stall For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in six straight sessions, adding more than 40 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,295-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with geopolitical concerns in the Middle East likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher again on Friday following gains from the food, consumer, industrial, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index rose 5.59 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 1,293.62 after trading between 1,289.31 and 1,299.19. Volume was 7.969 billion shared worth 38.576 billion baht. There were 254 gainers and 191 decliners, with 210 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.34 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 1.99 percent, Banpu lost 0.82 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.48 percent, Bangkok Expressway slumped 0.93 percent, B. Grimm plunged 3.47 percent, BTS Group advanced 1.21 percent, CP All Public climbed 1.05 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 2.07 percent, Gulf gained 0.54 percent, Kasikornbank dropped 0.90 percent, Krung Thai Card soared 3.51 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.07 percent, PTT improved 0.75 percent, SCG Packaging surged 4.37 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.44 percent, Thai Oil strengthened 1.43 percent, True Corporation sank 0.88 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.53 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, PTT Global Chemical, Asset World and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and closed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow dropped 273.78 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 45,834.22, while the NASDAQ gained 98.03 points or 0.44 percent to close at 22,141.10 and the S&P 500 dipped 3.18 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,584.29.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.0 percent, while the S&P 500 shot up 1.6 percent and the Dow jumped 1.0 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. With recent data showing relatively subdued inflation and a weakening labor market, the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter point.

Traders will pay close attention to the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting comments for clues about the likelihood of more rate cuts. Currently, the Fed is expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.

Crude oil has moved higher Friday as concerns over supply side disruptions linger, with the Russia-Ukraine war intensifying and a new conflict brewing in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.31 or 0.50 percent at $62.68 per barrel.