Thai Shares May Head South Again On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market climbed higher again on Friday, one day after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 60 points or 4.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,445-point plateau although it's expected to see renewed consolidation on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative thanks to the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the food, consumer, industrial, property, resource and service sectors were capped by weakness from the financials and technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 4.13 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,447.05 after trading between 1,442.16 and 1,457.71. Volume was 8.952 billion shares worth 63.398 billion baht. There were 292 gainers and 157 decliners, with 202 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slipped 0.27 percent, while Thailand Airport surged 2.96 percent, Asset World advanced 0.97 percent, Banpu rallied 2.52 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.18 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical added 0.55 percent, B. Grimm vaulted 1.79 percent, BTS Group gained 0.99 percent, CP All Public slumped 0.56 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods soared 4.00 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.77 percent, Gulf accelerated 2.64 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.52 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production climbed 0.95 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.54 percent, SCG Packaging lost 0.51 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.34 percent, Siam Concrete spiked 4.10 percent, Thai Oil increased 0.52 percent, True Corporation stumbled 2.14 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.87 percent and Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains grim as the major averages opened lower on Friday and got worse as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plunged 793.46 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 45,166.64, while the NASDAQ tumbled 459.74 points or 2.15 percent to close at 20,948.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.31 points or 1.67 percent to end at 6,368.85.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 dove 2.1 percent and the Dow slid 0.9 percent. The steep losses dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months.

A continued surge by the price of crude oil weighed on Wall Street, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Friday after Iran shut down reports of peace talks for the ongoing conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.32 or 5.63 percent at $99.80 per barrel.

Analysts suggest that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels, the greater the fear of inflationary pressures continuing to climb.