Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting just 2 points or 0.16 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,550-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with tech shares likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but little changed and the Asian markets are likely to open in similar fashion on Friday.

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday as gains from the consumer, energy, service and industrial stocks were offset by weakness from the financial and technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 1.58 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 1,550.36 after trading between 1,546.43 and 1,556.94. Volume was 11.277 billion shares worth 39.054 billion baht. There were 274 gainers and 194 decliners, with 176 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 0.93 percent, while Asset World advanced 0.97 percent, Banpu added 0.60 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.60 percent, Bangkok Expressway was down 0.58 percent, B. Grimm soared 2.31 percent, CP All Public rose 0.39 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.62 percent, Gulf jumped 1.63 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.03 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.54 percent, PTT dropped 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production increased 0.60 percent, PTT Global Chemical gained 0.69 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.43 percent, Thai Oil declined 1.52 percent, True Corporation rallied 1.49 percent, TTB Bank sank 0.58 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, SCG Packaging, Siam Concrete, PTT Oil & Retail, Thailand Airport, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed and finished little changed in similar fashion.

The Dow rose 57.54 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 34,500.73, while the NASDAQ sank 123.64 points or 0.89 percent to end at 13,748.83 and the S&P 500 fell 14.34 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,451.14.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates after the Labor Department reported an unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

The Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, but CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates a 43.4 percent chance of another rate hike in November.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was weighed by weakness from Apple (AAPL) after reports said China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones in sensitive departments to government-backed agencies and state companies.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Profit taking after recent strong gains was largely responsible as West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.67 or 0.9 percent at $86.87 a barrel.