Thai Stock Market Tipped To Open To The Upside On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 20 points or 1.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,145-point plateau although it's expected to rebound on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets finished solidly higher and the Asian bourses are also expected to open in the green.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index slumped 6.91 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 1,146.86 after trading between 1,143.29 and 1,155.13. Volume was 7.656 billion shares worth 40.628 billion baht. There were 248 gainers and 211 decliners, with 200 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.06 percent, while Thailand Airport plummeted 3.27 percent, Asset World dropped 0.91 percent, Banpu shed 0.47 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.71 percent, B. Grimm improved 0.91 percent, BTS Group surrendered 1.78 percent, CP All Public slumped 1.00 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.98 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.89 percent, Gulf declined 1.65 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.65 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.96 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.27 percent, PTT lost 0.82 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 3.90 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.22 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.76 percent, Siam Commercial Bank spiked 2.64 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.33 percent, Thai Oil fell 0.40 percent, True Corporation retreated 1.67 percent and TTB Bank, Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai Card and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved sharply higher, finishing near daily highs.

The Dow spiked 486.83 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 40,093.40, while the NASDAQ rallied 457.99 points or 2.74 percent to close at 17,166.04 and the S&P 500 jumped 108.91 points or 2.03 percent to end at 5,484.77.

Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the best performances on the day, resulting in a 5.6 percent spike by Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Texas Instruments (TXN) and Lam Research (LRCX) fueled the rally on better than expected quarterly earnings.

Later in the day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may reach "an agreement on understanding" on trade with South Korea "as soon as next week."

On the economic front, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged modestly higher last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged much more than expected in March

Crude oil showed a modest move back to the upside on Thursday following the steep drop in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.16 or 0.3 percent to $62.43 a barrel after plunging $1.40 or 2.2 percent to $62.27 a barrel a day earlier.