Thai Shares Likely To Open Under Pressure

The Thai stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,560-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on apprehension over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher again on Thursday as gains from the food, technology and packaging stocks were capped by weakness from the financial shares.

For the day, the index gained 8.40 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 1,557.41 after trading between 1,552.97 and 1,563.62. Volume was 15.432 billion shares worth 68.552 billion baht. There were 329 gainers and 180 decliners, with 146 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info sank 0.90 percent, while Thailand Airport perked 0.35 percent, Asset World rallied 1.48 percent, Banpu gained 0.57 percent, Bangkok Bank tanked 2.06 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surrendered 2.65 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 0.55 percent, B. Grimm soared 2.78 percent, BTS Group slumped 0.68 percent, CP All Public slipped 0.38 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.97 percent, Energy Absolute surged 4.51 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.13 percent, Krung Thai Bank plummeted 4.50 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.52 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rose 0.49 percent, PTT lost 0.70 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.32 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.39 percent, SCG Packaging skyrocketed 6.12 percent, Siam Commercial Bank retreated 1.28 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.64 percent, Thai Oil increased 0.49 percent, True Corporation improved 0.72 percent, TTB Bank plunged 4.44 percent and Gulf was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished deep under water.

The Dow plunged 373.56 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,099.42, while the NASDAQ tumbled 257.06 points or 1.87 percent to close at 13,463.97 and the S&P 500 sank 59.70 points or 1.35 percent to end at 4,376.31.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to Q2 results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported strong earnings and guidance after markets close on Wednesday.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with concerns about the outlook for interest rates continuing to weigh on the markets ahead of the economic symposium later today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled more than expected in July. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend its production cut into the next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $79.05 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release July figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to sink 8.1 percent on year after dropping 10.3 percent in June. Exports are called higher by an annual 0.75 percent after tumbling 6.4 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at $1.30 billion following the $0.060 billion surplus a month earlier.