Bargain Hunting May Boost Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 45 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,600-point plateau although it's likely to find traction on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and easing oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the finance, industrial, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dropped 26.36 points or 1.62 percent to finish at 1,598.11 after trading between 1,587.29 and 1,616.06. Volume was 14.393 billion shares worth 112.047 billion baht. There were 307 decliners and 152 gainers, with 193 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and continued to track higher throughout the day, sending at session highs.

The Dow jumped 613.92 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 52,208.06, while the NASDAQ rallied 679.24 points or 2.78 percent to end at 25,122.18 and the S&P 500 climbed 121.48 points or 1.66 percent to close at 7,437.63.

Bargain hunting contributed to the strength among tech stocks after the NASDAQ plunged to a three-month closing low on Wednesday. The Dow and the S&P 500 also ended the session at their lowest closing levels in well over a month.

Microsoft (MSFT) led the tech rally on strong earnings, while semiconductors, airlines and gold stocks also lent support.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said that consumer prices edged down in line with estimates in June, while the annual rate of growth also slowed as expected.

Crude oil prices slipped on Thursday as ongoing talks between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz management induced positivity on the resumption of the free flow of gulf oil. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.65 or 0.77 percent at $83.81 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release June figures for imports, exports, trade balance and current account later today. In May, imports surged 34.5 percent on year and exports were up 9.8 percent for a trade deficit of $2.60 billion. The current account deficit was $6.4 billion.