Rebound Predicted For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,680-point plateau and it figures to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian market is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the energy producers and a mixed performance from the financial shares.

For the day, the index slipped 5.72 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 1,681.73 after trading between 1,673.92 and 1,695.99. Volume was 20.675 billion shares worth 87.664 billion baht. There were 1,041 decliners and 564 gainers, with 496 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.50 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.68 percent, Asset World rallied 2.50 percent, Banpu jumped 1.63 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.64 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.83 percent, Bangkok Expressway climbed 1.05 percent, B. Grimm lost 0.60 percent, BTS Group gained 0.58 percent, CP All Public fell 0.36 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.83 percent, Kasikornbank dropped 0.96 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.12 percent, Krung Thai Card rose 0.43 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 0.84 percent, PTT Exploration and Production retreated 0.89 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.50 percent, SCG Packaging plunged 2.20 percent, Siam Commercial Bank was down 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete eased 0.28 percent, True Corporation slumped 1.24 percent, TTB Bank stumbled 1.40 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf, PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Friday, climbing into the green for good by the afternoon.

The Dow gained 112.61 points of 0.33 percent to finish at 34,302.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 78.06 points or 0.71 percent to end at 11,079.16 and the S&P 500 rose 15.92 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,999.09.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 4.8 percent, the S&P gained 2.7 percent and the Dow rose 2.0 percent.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on some the recent strength in the markets amid a negative reaction to earnings news from several big-name financial companies.

The recovery came as upbeat consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data helped offset the early negative sentiment.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Friday on optimism for less aggressive rate hikes in the United States after inflation slowed in December. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended higher by $1.47 or 1.9 percent at $79.86 a barrel.