The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 20 points or 1.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it’s likely to open under pressure again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking likely on the docket after strong gains late last week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are tipped to split the difference.
The SET finished slightly lower on Friday as losses from the financials, industrials, properties and technology stocks were mitigated by support from the food, consumer and resource sectors.
For the day, the index fell 3.15 points or 0.22 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,451.69 after peaking at 1,462.35. Volume was 13.178 billion shares worth 67.577 billion baht. There were 282 gainers and 223 decliners, with 167 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.15 percent, while Thailand Airport slid 0.39 percent, Asset World slumped 1.54 percent, Banpu skyrocketed 12.98 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.67 percent, Bangkok Expressway stumbled 1.23 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.43 percent, BTS Group declined 0.84 percent, CP All Public rose 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods improved 0.82 percent, Gulf lost 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.32 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.57 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.88 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.24 percent, True Corporation tumbled 1.77 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.52 percent and Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, SCG Packaging, Energy Absolute, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production and Thai Oil were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Friday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow broke barely into the green by the session’s end.
The Dow added 38.16 points or 0.09 percent to finish at a record 42,063.36, while the NASDAQ slumped 65.68 points or 0.36 percent to close at 17,948.32 and the S7P 500 fell 11.09 points or 0.19 percent to end at 5,702.55.
For the week, the Dow jumped 1.6 percent, the NASDAQ climbed 1.5 percent and the S&P rallied 1.4 percent.
The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflected profit taking, with traders cashing in on Thursday’s significant rally amid a positive reaction to the Federal Reserve’s decision to slash interest rates by half of a percentage point.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves as they question what the next catalyst for the markets will be now that the Fed’s first rate cut is in the rearview mirror.
Oil futures settled slightly lower on Friday due largely to profit taking by traders after solid gains last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October eased $0.03 at $71.92 a barrel.
Market Analysis
Lower Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market
2024-09-23 02:00:13
