Thai Stock Market: Resistance Expected At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 30 points or 2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,590-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of key U.S. employment data, which will affect the outlook for interest rates and the likelihood of recession. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial and packaging shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index added 8.91 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 1,589.18 after trading between 1,586.16 and 1,597.80. Volume was 17.371 billion shares worth 63.798 billion baht. There were 910 gainers and 716 decliners, with 578 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info tumbled 1.84 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.35 percent, Banpu spiked 2.42 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.10 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway shed 0.56 percent, B. Grimm tanked 2.34 percent, BTS Group lost 0.62 percent, CP All Public retreated 1.36 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.81 percent, Energy Absolute perked 0.29 percent, Gulf slid 0.50 percent, IRPC jumped 1.94 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.35 percent, PTT Exploration and Production strengthened 1.19 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.60 percent, SCG Packaging surged 5.34 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 0.96 percent, True Corporation slumped 1.60 percent, TTB Bank rallied 1.67 percent and Asset World, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT, Siam Concrete and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly turned well into the red and remained that way for the rest of the session.

The Dow dropped 346.93 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 29,926.94, while the NASDAQ sank 75.33 points or 0.68 percent to end at 11,073.31 and the S&P 500 declined 38.76 points or 1.02 percent to close at 3,744.52.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to express concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the impact higher rates will have on the economy.

A continued rebound by treasury yields also weighed on the markets, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note extending the sharp upward move seen on Wednesday.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report later today.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday, rising for a fourth straight session after OPEC announced on Wednesday that it would cut production by 2 million barrels per day from November, while a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.69 or 0.8 percent at $88.45 a barrel.