Thai Shares Tipped To Open To The Downside On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slipping almost 30 points or 2.4 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,160-point plateau and it figures to open under pressure again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns and their effect on the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished barely lower on Thursday as losses from the food, finance, industrial and property stocks were offset by support from the energy and technology companies.

For the day, the index dipped 0.42 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,159.64 after trading between 1,157.96 and 1,164.18. Volume was 7.617 billion shares worth 32.500 billion baht. There were 260 decliners and 204 gainers, with 188 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rallied 1.51 percent, while Thailand Airport weakened 1.26 percent, Asset World lost 0.68 percent, Banpu dropped 0.93 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical fell 0.42 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.91 percent, B. Grimm surrendered 2.52 percent, BTS Group tanked 2.65 percent, CP All Public cratered 2.96 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.24 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 3.20 percent, Gulf strengthened 1.61 percent, Kasikornbank dropped 0.99 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.43 percent, Krung Thai Card added 0.54 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.95 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 0.93 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 2.23 percent, SCG Packaging tumbled 1.97 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.28 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.20 percent, TTB Bank shed 0.52 percent and Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, True Corporation and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and continued to track lower throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 537.36 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 40,813.57, while the NASDAQ dropped 345.44 points or 1.96 percent to close at 17.303.01 and the S&P 500 sank 77.78 points or 1.39 percent to end at 5,521.52.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he suggested the U.S. would respond to the European Union's countermeasures with even more tariffs.

In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in February. Also, the Labor Department unexpectedly saw a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil prices fell on Thursday amid prospects of excess supply in the market, and on concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended lower by $1.13 or 1.7 percent at $66.55 a barrel.