Thai Stock Market May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 30 points or 2.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,135-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, thanks to upbeat employment data out of the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the industrials and technology stocks were offset by support from the consumer shares.

For the day, the index dipped 4.20 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,136.43 after trading between 1,129.41 and 1,141.05. Volume was 7.970 billion shares worth 30.853 billion baht. There were 231 gainers and 214 decliners, with 210 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.02 percent, while Asset World tanked 2.53 percent, Banpu weakened 1.33 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.06 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 1.42 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.93 percent, B. Grimm surged 5.05 percent, BTS Group plunged 3.02 percent, CP All Public dropped 1.04 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.96 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.68 percent, Gulf stumbled 1.69 percent, Kasikornbank dropped 0.96 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 2.28 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.66 percent, PTT Oil & Retail strengthened 1.69 percent, PTT rallied 1.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production eased 0.25 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.98 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.22 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.31 percent, Thai Oil plummeted 5.17 percent, True Corporation declined 1.57 percent and TTB Bank and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 443.13 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 42,762.87, while the NASDAQ rallied 231.50 points or 1.20 percent to close at 19,529.95 and the S&P 500 gained 61.06 points or 1.03 percent to end at 6,000.36.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing slightly stronger than expected U.S. job growth in May.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs.

The modestly bigger than expected increase in employment helped offset concerns about the strength of the economy following some recent downbeat data.

Crude oil prices move higher on Friday in response to the better-than-expected jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $1.21 to $64.58 per barrel; it was up 6 percent for the week.

Closer to home, Thailand will see May numbers for consumer prices later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.83 percent on year after slipping 0.22 percent in April. Core CPI is seen steady at 0.98 percent.