BANGKOK: The Thai stock market has moved higher in three consecutive trading days, gathering just 5 points or 0.3 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just above the 1,575-point plateau, and the market may inch higher again on Monday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to upbeat economic date, although the stagnant price of crude oil may weigh. The European markets were mixed on Friday and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher – and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers. Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.18 percent, while Airport of Thailand added 0.63 percent, coal miner Banpu dropped 1.52 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.28 percent, PTT gained 0.51 percent, PTT Exploration and Production shed 0.81 percent, PTT Global Chemical picked up 0.72 percent, and Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Bangkok Bank and Bangkok Expressway all were unchanged, The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as stocks were lackluster on Friday before ending slightly higher to reach new record closing highs.
The Dow added 4.28 points or 0.1 percent to 20,624.05, while the NASDAQ was up 23.68 points or 0.4 percent to 5,838.58, while the S&P gained 3.94 points or 0.2 percent to 2,351.16. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 1.8 percent, while the Dow jumped 1.7 percent and the S&P gained 1.5 percent. Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street ahead of the long holiday weekend; the U.S. markets are closed today for Presidents Day. In economic news, the Conference Board saw a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in January.
Crude oil futures fell Friday as slumping demand for gas at higher prices weighed on oil prices. March WTI was oil up 4 cents, or less than 0.1 percent to settle at $53.40/bbl. Closer to home, Thailand will unveil Q4 numbers for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.5 percent on quarter and 2.8 percent on year. That follows the 0.6 percent quarterly increase and the 3.2 percent yearly gain in the third quarter.
