Rebound Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 24 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,250-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the industrial, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index lost 6.76 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 1,252.55 after trading between 1,250.86 and 1,270.74. Volume was 9.922 billion shares worth 44.813 billion baht. There were 227 decliners and 224 gainers, with 198 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 2.01 percent, while Thailand Airport climbed 1.36 percent, Banpu fell 0.41 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.97 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical added 0.49 percent, B. Grimm cratered 2.34 percent, BTS Group gained 1.26 percent, CP All Public and Gulf both shed 0.53 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods stumbled 2.24 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 2.29 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.29 percent, Krung Thai Card advanced 0.88 percent, PTT Oil & Retail jumped 1.47 percent, PTT sank 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.73 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 3.64 percent, SCG Packaging tumbled 2.26 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.84 percent, Thai Oil dropped 0.74 percent, True Corporation contracted 1.75 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Asset World and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and climbed steadily higher throughout the day, finishing at session high.

The Dow rallied 350.06 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,621.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 209.97 points or 0.98 percent to end at 21,707.69 and the S&P 500 gained 53.82 points or 0.83 percent to close at 6,502.08.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week.

While the reports add to recent signs of weakness in the labor market, the data has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.