Thai Stock Market May Extend Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday snapped the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 60 points or 3.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just shy of the 1,530-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Israel against Iran. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the food, finance, service and technology sectors were offset by gains among the industrial, resource and property stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 5.38 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 1,528.26 after trading between 1,520.90 and 1,545.31. Volume was 12.311 billion shares worth 104.314 billion baht. There were 284 decliners and 215 gainers, with 173 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info plummeted 5.94 percent, while Asset World dropped 0.79 percent, Banpu stumbled 2.56 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.57 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slipped 0.46 percent, Bangkok Expressway jumped 1.61 percent, B. Grimm added 0.66 percent, BTS Group crashed 3.25 percent, CP All Public cratered 3.72 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods plunged 3.23 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 3.42 percent, Gulf rose 0.40 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.26 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.44 percent, Krung Thai Card sank 0.75 percent, PTT Oil & Retail contracted 1.47 percent, PTT lost 0.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production vaulted 2.24 percent, PTT Global Chemical rallied 2.73 percent, SCG Packaging shed 0.48 percent, Thai Oil soared 3.79 percent, True Corporation declined 1.36 percent, TTB Bank improved 0.85 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Concrete and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 521.28 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 48,977.92, while the NASDAQ sank 210.17 points or 0.92 percent to end at 22,668.21 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,878.88.

For the week, the Dow tumbled 1.3 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent.

The continued weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased 0.5 percent in January, more than the expected 0.3 percent.

The jump in producer prices along with concerns about AI-related layoffs led to worries about a period of stagflation. Adding to recent concerns about potential AI disruptions, Block (XYZ) said it is cutting its workforce by nearly half.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday amid growing concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April surged $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 barrel - although it's expected to jump sharply again now that hostilities have broken out.