Higher Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,575-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index rose 1.85 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 1,576.92 after trading between 1,574.83 and 1,589.77. Volume was 9.101 billion shares worth 64.483 billion baht. There were 225 decliners and 223 gainers, with 202 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and spent the whole day in the green, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 624.16 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 53,686.11, while the NASDAQ rallied 366.23 points or 1.40 percent to close at 26,584.06 and the S&P 500 climbed 81.11 points or 1.06 percent to end at 7,747.71.

The rally on Wall Street reflected easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates, as CME Group's FedWatch Tool showed a notable decrease in the likelihood of a rate hike later this month.

The drop came after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller remarked that he is leaning towards keeping rates steady at the upcoming meeting; those remarks contributed to a pullback by treasury yields, which also benefited stocks.

Traders were also looking ahead to the closely watched monthly employment report for August due later today, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Thursday on hopes that the new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran will be limited. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.24 or 0.26 percent at $91.26 per barrel.