Thai Bourse May Test Support At 1,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market turned lower again on Friday, one day after ending the three-day losing streak in which it had plunged nearly 150 points or 10 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,410-point plateau and the losses may accelerate again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on surging oil prices and the ongoing war in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the finance, property, service and technology sectors were mitigated by gains from the food, consumer and industrial companies.

For the day, the index shed 6.92 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 1,410.37 after trading between 1,404.31 and 1,418.51. Volume was 8.900 billion shares worth 62.899 billion baht. There were 249 gainers and 228 decliners, with 174 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.28 percent, while Thailand Airport weakened 0.98 percent, Banpu plunged 3.23 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.60 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was down 1.03 percent, Bangkok Expressway, Gulf and PTT Oil & Retail all contracted 0.88 percent, B. Grimm jumped 1.71 percent, BTS Group fell 0.95 percent, CP All Public skidded 1.02 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.53 percent, Energy Absolute retreated 1.50 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 1.05 percent, Krung Thai Card slumped 0.84 percent, PTT Exploration and Production vaulted 1.07 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 6.28 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.12 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.69 percent, Siam Concrete lost 0.80 percent, Thai Oil declined 1.51 percent, True Corporation tanked 2.94 percent, TTB Bank dropped 0.90 percent and Krung Thai Bank, Asset World and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 453.19 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 47,501.55, while the NASDAQ tumbled 361.31 points or 1.59 percent to close at 22,387.68 and the S&P 500 sank 90.69 points or 1.33 percent to end at 6,740.02.

The sell-off on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by the price of crude oil. Crude oil has skyrocketed over the past week as the U.S.-Iran conflict spreads across the Middle East, leading to concerns about a global energy crisis.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday after Qatar warned of a production halt in the gulf as the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has heavily disrupted energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $9.88 or 12.20 percent at $90.89 per barrel.

As the Middle East conflict entered its seventh day, Israel intensified air strikes on Iran, while the U.S. said its attacks on Iran are going to "surge dramatically."

Negative sentiment was also generated by the watched Labor Department report showing U.S. unemployment unexpectedly in February. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January.