Winning Streak May End For Thai Shares

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 15 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,290-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the release of key inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 9.85 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 1,288.26 after trading between 1,279.11 and 1,289.71. Volume was 7.243 billion shares worth 35.348 billion baht. There were 317 gainers and 146 decliners, with 195 stocks finishing unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 173.96 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 45,947.32, while the NASDAQ sank 113.16 points or 0.50 percent to end at 22,384.70 and the S&P 500 lost 33.25 points or 0.50 percent to close at 6,604.72.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade.

Renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Later today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in August, which includes the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Crude oil inched higher on Thursday amid the possibility of Russian oil exports being hit by sanctions by the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.08 or 0.12 percent at $65.07 per barrel.