Thai Stock Market Likely To Erase Friday’s Losses

The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,625-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm as they get to react to better than expected employment data from the United States and the corresponding bump in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished barely lower on Friday following weakness from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index eased 0.05 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 1,626.22 after trading between 1,619.62 and 1,528.60. Volume was 23.061 billion shares worth 67.472 billion baht. There were 1,-86 decliners and 517 gainers, with 580 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.52 percent, while Thailand Airport advanced 0.77 percent, BTS Group gained 0.53 percent, CP All Public rose 0.38 percent, Delta Electronics jumped 1.35 percent, IRPC retreated 1.44 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.43 percent, PTT Oil & Retail climbed 0.96 percent, PTT shed 0.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.42 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 1.61 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.38 percent, Siam Concrete improved 0.51 percent, Ture Corporation sank 1.06 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.85 percent and Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf, Krung Thai Bank and SCG Packaging all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday, faded somewhat as the day progressed but still ended solidly in the green at fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 203.72 points or 0.56 percent to finish at 36,327.95, while the NASDAQ added 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to close at 15,971.59 and the S&P 500 rose 17.47 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,697.53. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.1 percent, the S&P jumped 2 percent and the Dow gained 1.4 percent.

The continued strength on Wall Street came after the Labor Department reported that U.S. employment increased by more than expected in October.

The Labor Department described the job growth as widespread, with notable job gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, manufacturing, and transportation and warehousing.

Signals from the Federal Reserve suggesting it is not in a hurry to raise interests also continued to generate buying interest even as the central bank begins scaling back its asset purchases.

Crude oil prices showed a strong move to the upside Friday as traders continued to digest news that OPEC and its allies decided to stick with a plan to raise oil output modestly and gradually. West Texas Intermediate Crude for December delivery jumped $2.46 or 3.1 percent to $81.27 a barrel.

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