Soft Start Expected For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 15 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,260-point plateau and it’s likely to open in the red again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets calls for little movement with perhaps a touch of weakness in thin trade between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index shed 5.52 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 1,259.25 after trading between 1,256.35 and 1,267.30. Volume was 3.718 billion shares worth 17.261 billion baht. There were 239 decliners and 177 gainers, with 235 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport skidded 0.92 percent, while Asset World stumbled 2.75 percent, Banpu shed 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.60 percent, Bangkok Expressway advanced 0.95 percent, B. Grimm retreated 1.37 percent, BTS Group plunged 3.45 percent, CP All Public fell 0.56 percent, Energy Absolute declined 1.43 percent, Gulf lost 0.59 percent, Kasikornbank rose 0.26 percent, Krung Thai Card tumbled 1.83 percent, PTT Oil & Retail contracted 0.75 percent, PTT Global Chemical surrendered 1.88 percent, SCG Packaging gained 0.58 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.36 percent, Siam Concrete sank 0.80 percent, True Corporation slumped 0.90 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.98 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Bank, Advanced Info, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, Thai Oil and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests slight consolidation as the major averages hugged the line on Friday and finished very slightly under water.

The Dow shed 29,19 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 48,710.97, while the NASDAQ slipped 20.21 points or 0.09 percent to close at 23,593.10 and the S&P 500 eased 2.11 points or 0.03 percent to end at 6,929.94.

For the week, the S&P 500 shot up 1.4 percent, while the Dow and the NASDAQ both jumped 1.2 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as many traders remained away from their desks following the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, leading to below average trading activity.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record closing highs.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday on supply concerns due to the intensifying conflict between the United States and Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.41 or 2.42 percent at $56.94 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see November figures for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.8 percent on year following the 0.08 percent decline in October.