Thai Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

The Thai stock market on Friday snaped the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,530-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky after inconsistent U.S. employment data. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the technology, food and finance companies.

For the day, the index perked 1.45 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 1,530.46 after trading between 1,530.34 and 1,539.07. Volume was 12.740 billion shares worth 44.514 billion baht. There were 231 gainers and 177 decliners, with 224 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.90 percent, while Thailand Airport improved 0.35 percent, Asset World rose 0.47 percent, Banpu advanced 1.08 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.60 percent, Bangkok Expressway increased 0.56 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.32 percent, BTS Group gathered 0.65 percent, CP All Public slumped 0.82 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods skidded 1.02 percent, Energy Absolute lost 0.85 percent, Gulf fell 0.51 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.81 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.50 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slid 0.48 percent, PTT Exploration and Production strengthened 1.57 percent, PTT Global Chemical gained 0.64 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.23 percent, Thai Oil rallied 0.98 percent, True Corporation sank 0.72 percent, TTB Bank spiked 2.42 percent and SCG Packaging, PTT and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Friday and spent most of the day in the green before late selling pressure saw them finish slightly under water.

The Dow dropped 150.28 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 35,0.65.62, while the NASDAQ lost 50.46 points or 0.36 percent to close at 13,909.24 and the S&P 500 sank 23.86 points or 0.53 percent to end at 4,478.03.

For the week, the Dow slumped 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.3 percent and the NASDAQ plunged 2.9 percent.

The volatility on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released a report showing that employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in July, although the jobless rate surprisingly ticked lower.

Following the mixed report, most economists still expect another pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve next month, although the data has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for rates beyond that.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending recent gains amid tightening supply issues after Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged to cut output through next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.27 at $82.82 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide July figures for consumer prices later today. Overall inflation is seen higher by 0.68 percent on year, accelerating from 0.23 percent in June. Core CPI is tipped to rise an annual 0.90 percent, easing from 1.32 percent a month earlier.