Thai Stock Market Due For Support On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, shedding more than 15 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,290-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday as losses among the food, property, services and technology stocks were offset by support from the consumer, finance, industrial and resource companies.

For the day, the index slipped 4.29 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,292.72 after trading between 1,292.41 and 1,302.49. Volume was 9.913 billion shares worth 47.981 billion baht. There were 230 decliners and 223 gainers, with 205 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.34 percent, while Thailand Airport crashed 1.89 percent, Asset World surrendered 2.44 percent, Banpu lost 0.41 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.34 percent, Bangkok Expressway and Bangkok Dusit Medical both declined 1.90 percent, B. Grimm rallied 1.50 percent, BTS Group was down 0.62 percent, CP All Public slumped 1.54 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.43 percent, Energy Absolute gained 0.56 percent, Gulf increased 0.55 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.23 percent, Krung Thai Card tumbled 1.72 percent, PTT improved 0.76 percent, PTT Global Chemical advanced 0.92 percent, SCG Packaging stumbled 2.11 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.80 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.31 percent, Thai Oil strengthened 1.37 percent, True Corporation plummeted 4.42 percent and TTB Bank, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.