Thai Bourse May Se Profit Taking On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 75 points or 5.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,425-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the health of the world's economy. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the finance, industrial, property, resource and service sectors.

For the day, the index jumped 23.36 points or 1.66 percent to finish at 1,427.64 after trading between 1,412.76 and 1,431.24. Volume was 14.839 billion shares worth 107.436 billion baht. There were 355 gainers and 183 decliners, with 135 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.75 percent, while Thailand Airport gathered 1.20 percent, Asset World increased 3.35 percent, Banpu gained 2.56 percent, Bangkok Bank soared 5.61 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 1.75 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 0.64 percent, B. Grimm rose 4.04 percent, BTS Group surged 5.36 percent, CP All Public tanked 2.00 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 2.76 percent, Energy Absolute skyrocketed 8.87 percent, Gulf gathered 4.21 percent, Kasikornbank accelerated 4.10 percent, Krung Thai Bank spiked 4.66 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.14 percent, PTT Oil & Retail soared 5.56 percent, PTT increased 2.96 percent, PTT Exploration and Production perked 0.71 percent, PTT Global Chemical jumped 2.75 percent, SCG Packaging strengthened 2.78 percent, Siam Commercial Bank surged 5.58 percent, Siam Concrete improved 4.18 percent, TTB Bank rallied 4.81 percent and True Corporation and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day under water, finishing with heavy losses.

The Dow stumbled 410.39 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 40,345.41, while the NASDAQ plunged 436.87 points or 2.55 percent to close at 16,690.83 and the S&P 500 sank 94.99 points or 1.73 percent to end at 5,408.42.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.8 percent, the Dow tanked 2.9 percent and the S&P tumbled 4.3 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy after the Labor Department released a closely watched report showing employment rose by less than expected in the month of August.

While the data is seen as increasing the chances of a 50-basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month, traders seemed worried the central bank may have waited too long to prevent the economy from slipping into a recession.

Oil prices fell to an 18-month low on Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand following the disappointing jobs report. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or 2.1 percent at $67.67 a barrel.