BANGKOK: The Thai stock market gave up less than a single point on Friday, but that was enough to halt the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 35 points or 2.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just above the 1,590-point plateau, and the market figures to remain rangebound again on Monday. The global forecast for the few Asian markets in session remains murky as economic data and a decline in the price of crude oil will likely limit any upside. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but little changed, and the Asian markets figure to follow suit. The SET finished barely lower on Friday following weakness from the energy producers and a mixed performance from the financial shares.
For the day, the index eased 0.20 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,590.80 after trading between 1,586.01 and 1,592.51. Volume was 7.893 billion shares worth 41.666 billion baht. There were 682 decliners and 559 gainers, with 395 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.31 percent, while coal miner Banpu was unchanged, Bangkok Bank dropped 1.14 percent, Bangkok Expressway surged 2.13 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.52 percent, PTT shed 0.48 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.76 percent, PTT Global Chemical fell 0.37 percent and Siam Commercial Bank added 0.39 percent.
The lead from Wall Street provides little help as stocks continued to show a lack of direction on Friday after spending much of the day lingering near the unchanged line. The NASDAQ added 5.61 points or 0.1 percent to a record closing high of 5,660.68, while the Dow shed 7.13 points or 0.1 percent to 20,093.78 and the S&P fell 1.99 points or 0.1 percent to 2,294.69. On week, the NASDAQ surged 1.9 percent, the Dow jumped by 1.3 percent and the S&P gained 1 percent. In economic news, the Commerce Department said economic growth in the U.S. slowed by more than expected in Q4. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed durable goods orders unexpectedly declined in December. Crude oil prices were lower Friday with U.S. oil inventories on the rise; analysts say the global supply glut may prove stubborn even as OPEC trims production. March WTI oil fell 61 cents or 1.1 percent to $53.17/bbl.
