Thai Shares May Open Under Pressure On Friday

The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 30 points or 2.1 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,415-point plateau although it’s likely to head south on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with growth concerns warring with interest rate optimism. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the food, industrial and energy stocks were offset by weakness among the financials, properties and technology companies.

For the day, the index picked up 0.17 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,415.34 after trading between 1,407.79 and 1,417.20. Volume was 10.842 billion shares worth 43.037 billion baht. There were 247 decliners and 215 gainers, with 185 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport rose 0.36 percent, while Banpu lost 0.61 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 0.94 percent, B. Grimm surged 3.66 percent, BTS Group gained 0.68 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 2.16 percent, Gulf rallied 2.19 percent, Krung Thai Card plummeted 3.08 percent, PTT Oil & Retail soared 2.59 percent, PTT improved 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.31 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 1.32 percent, SCG Packaging added 0.67 percent, Thai Oil jumped 1.51 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.84 percent, TTB Bank plunged 3.05 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Concrete, Asset World, Advanced Info, CP All Public and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,945.47, while the NASDAQ rose 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to close at 14,113.67 and the S&P 500 perked 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,508.24.

A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) weighed on the Dow, while upticks by the NASDAQ and S&P came as the latest U.S. economic data added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department released a report showing U.S. import and export prices both fell by more than expected in the month of October, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data.

A separate Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on fears of a likely drop in energy demand after soft data from the U.S., Europe and Asia raised worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December tumbled $3.76 or 4.9 percent at $72.90 a barrel.