Thai Stock Market Poised To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had added almost a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,250-point plateau although it figures to get a lift from bargain hunters on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the consumer, finance, industrial, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index stumbled 27.41 points or 2.14 percent to finish at 1,254.40 after trading between 1,248.89 and 1,272.31. Volume was 7.194 billion shares worth 36.090 billion baht.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 0.95 percent, while Thailand Airport crashed 2.96 percent, Asset World cratered 4.50 percent, Banpu tumbled 1.83 percent, Bangkok Bank and PTT Exploration and Production both dropped 0.94 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical fell 0.53 percent, Bangkok Expressway gave up 1.75 percent, B. Grimm surrendered 2.63 percent, BTS Group was down 3.10 percent, CP All Public declined 2.27 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.94 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 2.84 percent, Gulf contracted 2.99 percent, Kasikornbank and Siam Concrete both dipped 0.27 percent, Krung Thai Card tanked 2.70 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plummeted 3.01 percent, PTT shed 0.82 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 4.50 percent, SCG Packaging stumbled 3.11 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.38 percent, Thai Oil lost 2.72 percent, True Corporation sank 0.87 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.05 percent and Krung Thai Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened flat on Friday but rallied in the afternoon, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow jumped 493.15 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 46,245.41, while the NASDAQ rallied 195.03 points or 0.88 percent to end at 22,273.08 and the S&P 500 gained 64.23 points or 0.98 percent to close at 6,602.99.

For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the Dow slumped 1.9 percent.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected renewed optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting in December following dovish remarks by New York Federal Reserve President John Williams.

Potentially adding to the optimism about the outlook for interest rates, the University of Michigan released a report showing decreases by both year-ahead inflation and long-run inflation expectations in November.

Crude oil prices slumped Friday on oversupply concerns after Ukraine expressed support for the U.S. peace plan to stop the Russia-Ukraine war. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down by $0.86 or 1.46 percent at $58.14 per barrel.