Rebound Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has moved lower in back-to-back trading days, slipping almost a dozen points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,605-point plateau although it’s likely to bounce higher on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on easing inflation concerns and support from crude oil. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished barely lower on Friday following gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index eased 0.51 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 1,605.17 after trading between 1,593.32 and 1,609.48. Volume was 30.349 billion shares worth 75.664 billion baht. There were 1,029 decliners and 544 gainers, with 594 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.26 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.41 percent, Bangkok Bank gained 0.86 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.88 percent, BTS Group climbed 1.06 percent, Gulf surged 4.22 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.75 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.37 percent, PTT lost 0.64 percent, PTT Global Chemical rose 0.40 percent, SCG Packaging slid 0.41 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.82 percent, True Corporation skidded 1.05 percent and Siam Concrete, TTB Bank, Bangkok Expressway, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT Exploration and Production all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages shook off early uncertainty on Friday to finish solidly in positive territory.

The Dow spiked 482.56 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 34,326.46, while the NASDAQ jumped 118.10 points or 0.82 percent to close at 14,556.70 and the S&P 500 gained 49.50 points or 1.15 percent to end at 4,357.04.

For the week, the Dow slid 1.4 percent, the NASDAQ lost 3.2 percent and the S&P fell 2.2 percent. For the month of September, the Dow tumbled by 4.3 percent, and the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 plummeted by 5.3 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

The higher close on Wall Street came as bargain hunting won out over concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve scaling back asset purchases. The major averages showed wild swings in morning trading but eventually sustained a move to upside as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following a disappointing September.

An extended pullback by treasury yields may also have generated buying interest on Wall Street, with the ten-year yield continuing to give ground after reaching a three-month closing high on Wednesday.

Crude oil prices recovered after a weak start and settled higher Friday ahead of this week’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.85 or 1.1 percent at $75.88 a barrel. WTI crude futures gained 2.6 percent in the week.