The Thai stock market has ticked higher in back-to-back trading days, collecting almost 5 points of 0.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,575-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on inflation concerns and sinking crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financials.
For the day, the index rose 2.36 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,574.37 after trading between 1,567.17 and 1,575.66. Volume was 26.010 billion shares worth 80.445 billion baht. There were 799 decliners and 792 gainers, with 508 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.41 percent, while Bangkok Bank shed 0.47 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 1.30 percent, BTS Group jumped 1.67 percent, Gulf gained 0.75 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.43 percent, Krung Thai Card advanced 1.09 percent, PTT perked 0.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 1.36 percent, PTT Global Chemical accelerated 1.75 percent, SCG Packaging rose 0.40 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.80 percent, Siam Concrete was up 0.47 percent, Sri Trang Agro-Industry skyrocketed 5.41 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.97 percent and Advanced Info, Bangkok Expressway, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Bank and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened slightly higher on Friday but quickly turned lower, with the losses accelerating heading into the close.
The Dow tumbled 299.15 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 34,687.85, while the NASDAQ sank 115.86 points or 0.80 percent to end at 14,427.24 and the S&P 500 lost 32.87 points or 0.75 percent to close at 4,327.16. For the week, the Dow fell 0.5 percent, the NASDAQ dropped 1.9 percent and the S&P shed 1 percent.
The initial strength on Wall Street came after the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in retail sales in June. But stocks came under pressure after a separate report from the University of Michigan showed an unexpected slump in consumer sentiment in July amid concerns about inflation.
Crude oil futures settled slightly higher Friday, moving up after two days of sharp losses but ending with a sharp weekly loss. Worries about outlook for energy demand due to the surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus weighed on the commodity.
Also, OPEC+ agreed on a deal to increase crude output over the weekend, putting further pressure on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $0.16 or 0.2 percent on Friday at $71.81 a barrel; oil futures shed nearly 4 percent in the week.
Market Analysis
Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Monday
2021-07-19 02:34:14
