Additional Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 40 points or 3.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,200-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the food, consumer, financial, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index jumped 12.48 points or 1.05 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,202.03 after moving as low as 1,186.93. Volume was 9.305 billion shares worth 37.844 billion baht. There were 352 gainers and 146 decliners, with 158 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport sank 0.62 percent, while Asset World and Bangkok Bank both climbed 1.36 percent, Banpu rallied 2.30 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.86 percent, B. Grimm jumped 2.48 percent, CP All Public gained 0.48 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rose 0.41 percent, Energy Absolute soared 4.31 percent, Gulf added 0.51 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.90 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.54 percent, PTT Oil & Retail strengthened 1.82 percent, PTT Exploration and Production improved 1.42 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.47 percent, SCG Packaging surged 4.96 percent, Siam Concrete accelerated 2.01 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.92 percent and TTB Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Advanced Info, PTT, Thai Oil, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the green by the close.

The Dow climbed 222.62 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 42,801.72, while the NASDAQ rallied 126.92 points or 0.70 percent to close at 18,196.22 and the S&P 500 gained 31.68 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,770.20. For the week, the NASDAQ plunged 3.5 percent, the S&P 500 sank 3.1 percent and the Dow slumped 2.4 percent.

The volatility on Wall followed the release of the closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. increased less than expected in February.

While the report added to recent concerns about the strength for the economy, the data may also have generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Bargain hunting contributed to the afternoon recovery, which came even though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank does not "need to be in a hurry" to adjusted interest rates amid uncertainty about the effects of President Donald Trump's policies.

Crude oil prices faded after an early surge but still remained notably higher on Friday, adding to the modest gain posted in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate for April delivery climbed $0.68 cents or 1.0 percent to $67.04 a barrel.