Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,550-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of this week's FOMC rate decision, while disappointing earnings news may weigh on tech sectors. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index added 6.42 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 1,552.73 after trading between 1,541.97 and 1,556.26. Volume was 19.221 billion shares worth 57.726 billion baht. There were 780 gainers and 757 decliners, with 581 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.72 percent, while Asset World climbed 1.21 percent, Banpu advanced 0.78 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.77 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.93 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 1.16 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.35 percent, CP All Public rose 0.41 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods increased 1.00 percent, IRPC shed 0.62 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.36 percent, Krung Thai Bank soared 3.33 percent, Krung Thai Card spiked 2.75 percent, PTT Oil & Retail jumped 1.98 percent, PTT perked 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rallied 0.95 percent, PTT Global Chemical lost 0.56 percent, SCG Packaging was up 0.47 percent, Siam Commercial Bank surged 3.19 percent, Siam Concrete accelerated 0.81 percent, Thai Oil sank 0.50 percent, True Corporation plummeted 6.20 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.95 percent and Advanced Info, BTS Group, Energy Absolute and Gulf were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to held early gains on Friday, quickly slipping into the red and finishing near session lows.

The Dow shed 137.61 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 31,899.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.50 points or 1.87 percent to end at 11,834.11 and the S&P 500 slumped 37.32 points or 0.93 percent to close at 3,961.63.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P jumped 2.5 percent and the Dow climbed 2.0 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to this week's highly anticipated monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points as part of its ongoing efforts to combat elevated inflation.

A steep drop by shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ after the company reported disappointing second quarter results and declined to provide guidance. Social media giant Twitter (TWTR) also reported second quarter results that missed estimates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply lower on Friday as prices fell on concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $1.65 or 1.7 percent at $94.70 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide June data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to jump 20.6 percent on year, slowing from 24.1 percent in May. Exports are called higher by an annual 8.5 percent, down from 10.5 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit if pegged at $1.53 billion following the $1.87 billion shortfall a month earlier.