Steady Start Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping more than 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,470-point plateau, although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat on ongoing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday as heavy losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the food and finance shares.

For the day, the index shed 10.71 points or 0.72 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,471.43 after peaking at 1,484.62. Volume was 12.393 billion shares worth 73.074 billion baht. There were 265 gainers and 189 decliners, with 189 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info was up 1.33 percent, while Thailand Airport gained 0.72 percent, Asset World surged 4.28 percent, Banpu gathered 1.27 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.82 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.94 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.61 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.88 percent, BTS Group climbed 1.35 percent, CP All Public gathered 0.83 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods soared 2.99 percent, Energy Absolute increased 0.99 percent, Gulf soared 2.25 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.20 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.06 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 1.15 percent, PTT Oil & Retail accelerated 3.31 percent, PTT Exploration and Production perked 0.29 percent, PTT Global Chemical rallied 2.22 percent, SCG Packaging increased 1.32 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 1.49 percent, Siam Concrete gained 0.67 percent, True Corporation rose 1.43 percent, TTB Bank spiked 1.78 percent and PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Friday but faded into the red as the day progressed, although the NASDAQ managed to peek back up into the green by the close.

The Dow shed 158.80 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 33,507.50, while the NASDAQ rose 18.02 points or 0.14 percent to close at 13,219.32 and the S&P 500 fell 11.65 points or 0.27 percent to end at 4,288.05.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on concerns over the prospect of a government shutdown, although that was avoided at the last minute.

The outlook for interest rates also rendered the mood cautious, prompting investors to lighten commitments.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal income in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in August. Also, core CPI slowed in August and overall inflation ticked slightly higher - both in line with forecasts.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Friday, with a bit of profit taking and uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand weighing on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended lower by $0.92 or 1 percent at $90.79 a barrel. WTI crude futures added 0.8 percent in the week and 8.5 percent in September.