Thai Bourse Expected To Find Support On Friday

The Thai stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 40 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,550-point plateau and now it’s looking at a green light for Friday’s trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with bargain hunting expected particularly among the technology stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the technology stocks and mixed performances from the financials and energy producers.

For the day, the index tumbled 23.72 points or 1.51 percent to finish at 1,548.13 after trading between 1,501.02 and 1,561.80. Volume was 42.717 billion shares worth 143.714 billion baht. There were 1,506 decliners and 354 gainers, with 244 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.29 percent, while Asset World dropped 0.85 percent, Bangkok Asset Management plunged 3.66 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.43 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 1.95 percent, BTS Group retreated 1.72 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods declined 1.69 percent, Delta Electronics plummeted 13.26 percent, Gulf tanked 2.96 percent, Kasikornbank spiked 2.51 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.91 percent, PTT added 0.63 percent, PTT Global Chemical slid 0.37 percent, SCG Packaging lost 0.46 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.25 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.43 percent, TTB Bank was down 0.88 percent and Thailand Airport, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks opened higher on Thursday and remained solidly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 433.79 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 34,021.45, while the NASDAQ advanced 93.31 points or 0.72 percent to end at 13,124.99 and the S&P 500 climbed 49.46 points or 1.22 percent to close at 4,112.50.

The rally on Wall Street came as investors scooped up bargains following heavy losses in recent sessions, which were driven by inflation concerns.

In economic news, the Labor Department said producer prices increased more than expected in April. The Labor Department also said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices declined sharply on Thursday, weighed down by rising worries about outlook for energy demand and on news that Colonial Pipeline has resumed operations at its facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $2.26 or 3.4 percent at $63.82 a barrel, a two-week low.