(RTTNews) – The Thai stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 40 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,660-point plateau although investors are likely to cash in on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak thanks to rising crude oil prices and tumbling technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index advanced 10.93 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 1,658.01 after trading between 1,637.93 and 1,659.67. Volume was 29.534 billion shares worth 78.505 billion baht. There were 960 gainers and 739 decliners, with 642 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.30 percent, while Asset World advanced 0.82 percent, Banpu jumped 1.77 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 2.00 percent, Bangkok Expressway shed 0.57 percent, BTS Group lost 0.54 percent, CP All Public rose 0.38 percent, Gulf skidded 1.04 percent, IRPC strengthened 1.65 percent, Krung Thai Bank sank 0.74 percent, Krung Thai Card perked 0.41 percent, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT Exploration and Production both spiked 2.00 percent, PTT accelerated 1.94 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 2.05 percent, SCG Packaging surged 2.70 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.43 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.81 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.77 percent and Thailand Airport, Bangkok Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Energy Absolute, Kasikornbank and Siam Concrete were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Friday but were unable to hold on to their gains and finished firmly in the red.
The Dow skidded 229.91 points or 0.69 percent to finish at 32,944.19, while the NASDAQ tumbled 286.19 points or 2.18 percent to end at 12,843.81 and the S&P 500 sank 55.21 points or 1.30 percent to close at 4.204.31. For the week, the Dow shed 2 percent, the NASDAQ lost 3.5 percent and the S&P fell 2.9 percent.
Rising worries about the economic impact of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine war and the various sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and the Western allies rendered the mood bearish.
In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a bigger than expected drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in March. The report also showed that one-year inflation expectations jumped to 5.4 percent in March from 4.9 percent in February, while five-year inflation expectations held at 3.0 percent.
Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday on concerns about disruptions in supply amid uncertainty about any meaningful progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $3.31 or 3.1 percent at $109.33 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 5.5 percent in the week.