Rebound Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday halted the six-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 80 points or 6.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,310-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on easing geopolitical tensions regarding Greenland. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the food, consumer, industrial, resource and service sectors.

For the day, the index slipped 5.92 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 1,311.64 after trading between 1,305.21 and 1,327.91. Volume was 9.557 billion shares worth 72.724 billion baht. There were 328 decliners and 129 gainers, with 201 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info tumbled 1.72 percent, while Thailand Airport skidded 1.89 percent, Banpu sank 0.88 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical contracted 1.47 percent, B. Grimm retreated 1.46 percent, BTS Group lost 2.50 percent, CP All Public plummeted 3.37 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.47 percent, Energy Absolute declined 1.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank soared 3.60 percent, Krung Thai Card dropped 0.89 percent, PTT Oil & Retail surrendered 1.92 percent, PTT improved 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 1.27 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.75 percent, SCG Packaging stumbled 2.38 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.36 percent, Thai Oil plunged 2.38 percent, True Corporation cratered 14.52 percent and TTB Bank, Kasikornbank, Siam Concrete, Asset World, Gulf and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and spent the entire session in the green.

The Dow jumped 306.78 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 49,384.01, while the NASDAQ climbed 211.20 points or 0.91 percent to end at 23,436.02 and the S&P 500 added 37.73 points or 0.55 percent to close at 6,913.35.

The extended rebound on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from easing tensions after President Donald Trump ruled out the use of military force to acquire Greenland.

Some analysts see the strength on Wall Street as a return of the "TACO trade," meaning "Trump Always Chickens Out," as the president is often seen as backing down after scaring the markets with threats of new tariffs.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said consumer prices increased in line with estimates in November.

Crude oil prices plunged on Thursday as investors assessed data on U.S. crude oil inventories, which shot up much more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.29 or 2.13 percent at $59.33 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release December data for imports, exports and trade balance sometime in the next week. In November, imports were up 17.6 percent and exports rose an annual 7.1 percent for a trade deficit of $2.730 billion.