Thai Stock Market May Take Further Damage On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market headed south again on Friday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had dropped almost 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,650-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on lingering concerns over the outlook for interest rates following the recent batch of data. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy companies.

For the day, the index slipped 6.62 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 1,651.67 after trading between 1,643.82 and 1,657.02. Volume was 13.275 billion shares worth 53.425 billion baht. There were 1,113 decliners and 427 gainers, with 473 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 0.95 percent, while Thailand Airport eased 0.34 percent, Asset World jumped 1.74 percent, Banpu tumbled 1.80 percent, Bangkok Bank declined 1.23 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.84 percent, Bangkok Expressway plunged 3.17 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.61 percent, BTS Group lost 0.61 percent, CP All Public fell 0.38 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.44 percent, Energy Absolute gained 0.60 percent, Gulf gathered 0.46 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.08 percent, Krung Thai Bank retreated 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card slid 0.43 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.88 percent, PTT rallied 2.29 percent, PTT Exploration and Production shed 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical stumbled 1.52 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dipped 0.25 percent, Thai Oil was up 0.44 percent, TTB Bank tanked 2.16 percent and SCG Packaging and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened in the red on Friday, although the Dow managed to break into the positive territory and finish mildly in the green.

The Dow climbed 129.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 33,826.69, while the NASDAQ slumped 68.53 points or 0.58 percent to close at 11,787.27 and the S&P 500 fell 11.32 points or 0.28 percent to end at 4,079.09. For the week, the Dow eased 0.1 percent, the NASDAQ rose 0.6 percent and the S&P dipped 0.3 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the week's batch of economic data, which has led to worries the Federal Reserve could raise rates higher than currently anticipated.

Recent comments from Fed officials have added to the concerns, with some suggesting the central bank could raise rates by another 50 basis points next month.

The recovery attempt came as treasury yields showed a notable turnaround, with the benchmark ten-year yield pulling back off its highest levels in well over a month.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Friday, extending its recent losing streak to four days as traders worried about the impact of rate hikes on energy demand. West Texas Intermediate tumbled $2.15 or 2.7 percent to $76.34 per barrel. For the week, oil slumped 4.2 percent.