Rebound Expected For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,375-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on solid economic data and a spike in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index shed 5.10 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,376.09 after trading between 1,370.78 and 1,379.15. Volume was 22.189 billion shares worth 41.153 billion baht. There were 249 decliners and 199 gainers, with 186 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.46 percent, while Thailand Airport stumbled 1.66 percent, Asset World shed 0.51 percent, Banpu improved 0.78 percent, Bangkok Bank lost 0.69 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 0.90 percent, Bangkok Expressway sank 0.68 percent, BTS Group dropped 1.46 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.12 percent, Gulf fell 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.82 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.21 percent, Krung Thai Card tumbled 1.68 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 1.08 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 1.43 percent, Siam Commercial Bank strengthened 1.44 percent, Siam Concrete skidded 1.11 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.85 percent, TTB Bank added 0.56 percent and SCG Packaging, B. Grimm, Energy Absolute, PTT, Thai Oil and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher, gave ground midday but still finished well in the green.

The Dow jumped 242.74 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 38,049.13, while the NASDAQ added 28.58 points or 0.18 percent to close at 15,510.50 and the S&P 500 rose 25.61 points or 0.53 percent to end at a fresh record high of 4,894.16.

The early strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Commerce Department report showing stronger than expected U.S. economic growth as well as a slowdown in the pace of inflation in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to Friday's report on personal income and spending, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, continuing to benefit from Wednesday's data showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventory. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March surged $2.27 or 3 percent at $77.36 a barrel.