Thai Stock Market May Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market had alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of the three-day slide in which it had fallen more than a dozen points or 0.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,610-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on profit taking and rising oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference on Monday.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses among the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property and resource sectors.

For the day, the index fell 5.30 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,609.06 after trading between 1,605.13 and 1,623.82. Volume was 12.350 billion shares worth 81.758 billion baht. There were 329 decliners and 163 gainers, with 156 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly tailed off and fell under water for the balance of the day.

The Dow sank 107.59 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 53,732.41, while the NASDAQ shed 73.84 points or 0.28 percent to end at 26,729.16 and the S&P 500 dipped 13.23 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,785.23.

For the week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ crept up 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent.

The modest pullback on Wall Street reflected profit taking following the upward move seen in the two previous sessions, which lifted the S&P 500 to a record intraday high above 7,800. Also, the tech-heavy NASDAQ reached its highest closing level in over two months.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in August. Also, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected decline in U.S. retail sales in July.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday as the U.S. and Iran continue to spar on their demands, leaving the Strait of Hormuz shut for shipping traffic. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $1.05 or 1.29 percent at $82.30 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide Q2 figures for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.6 percent on quarter and an increase of 1.7 percent on year. That follows gains of 0.7 percent on quarter and 2.8 percent on year in the first quarter.