Lower Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had plunged nearly 150 points or 10 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,420-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over surging energy prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply higher on Thursday following bargain hunting among the consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index rallied 32.68 points or 2.36 percent to finish at 1,417.29 after trading between 1,386.70 and 1,430.58. Volume was 14.458 billion shares worth 106.582 billion baht. There were 403 gainers and 110 decliners, with 142 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport increased 5.15 percent, while Banpu skyrocketed 8.77 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.30 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.51 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 2.70 percent, B. Grimm strengthened 1.74 percent, BTS Group rose 0.96 percent, CP All Public climbed 1.55 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.55 percent, Energy Absolute surged 6.40 percent, Gulf soared 4.63 percent, Krung Thai Bank spiked 3.05 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.85 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plunged 3.39 percent, PTT cratered 3.55 percent, PTT Exploration and Production vaulted 1.82 percent, SCG Packaging rallied 2.30 percent, Siam Commercial Bank jumped 1.75 percent, Siam Concrete tumbled 1.83 percent, Thai Oil expanded 2.05 percent, True Corporation accelerated 2.26 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.91 percent and Kasikornbank, PTT Global Chemical, Asset World and Advanced Info were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent all day in the red, although ending off session lows.

The Dow tumbled 784.67 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 47,954.74, while the NASDAQ sank 58.50 points or 0.26 percent to close at 22,748.99 and the S&P 500 lost 38.79 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,830.71.

Concerns about the impact of sharply higher energy prices weighed on Wall Street, as the price of crude oil resumed the surge seen early in the week.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed again on Thursday, resuming the surge seen earlier in the week in reaction to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $6.51 or 8.7 percent to $81.17 a barrel and has soared $14.15 or 21.1 percent so far this week.

Iran has claimed it struck a U.S. oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, raising fears of a wider conflict after the Islamic republic threatened to halt shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying the war could last up to eight weeks but might be over sooner.