FX.co ★ Thai Bourse May Give Up Support At 1,300 Points

The Thai stock market has experienced declines in consecutive sessions, shedding over 10 points or 0.8 percent, leaving the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) just above the 1,305-point mark. Prospects suggest further declines on Monday.

Globally, the forecast for Asian markets remains uncertain, influenced by mixed signals regarding interest rates. European markets ended sharply lower, while U.S. exchanges displayed minimal changes, suggesting that Asian markets might experience moderate fluctuations.

On Friday, the SET closed modestly lower due to losses across the food, industrial, property, resource, and service sectors. However, financial and technology stocks offered some stability.

The index dropped 5.22 points, or 0.40 percent, concluding at 1,306.56, within a trading range of 1,304.31 to 1,315.70. Trading volume was 11.243 billion shares, valued at 38.680 billion baht. The market saw 365 decliners, 124 gainers, and 163 unchanged stocks.

Key stock movements included Advanced Info, which rose 0.96 percent; Asset World, which fell 1.15 percent; and Banpu, which tumbled 2.02 percent. Bangkok Bank gained 0.75 percent, while Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.91 percent. Bangkok Expressway surged 1.56 percent, whereas B. Grimm plummeted 7.05 percent. Other notable movements included True Corporation soaring 2.98 percent and Gulf surrendering 3.11 percent. Stocks like PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, CP All Public, and Thailand Airport remained unchanged.

Wall Street's performance was mixed to flat, as major averages initially fell sharply on Friday but recovered to close with little change. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.15 percent to 38,589.16, the NASDAQ gained 0.12 percent, ending at a record 17,688.88, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.04 percent to 5,431.60.

Throughout the week, the NASDAQ surged 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6 percent, and the Dow declined 0.5 percent. Investors initially sought to capitalize on recent market strength, but selling pressure eased after the Labor Department reported unexpected declines in U.S. import and export prices for May.

Federal Reserve officials projected only one rate cut for the year following this week's monetary policy meeting, although traders are hopeful these predictions might be overly conservative if inflation continues to decline in upcoming months.

Oil futures ended a four-day winning streak, closing lower on Friday due to an increase in U.S. crude inventories and a stronger U.S. dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July fell by $0.17, or about 0.22 percent, to settle at $78.45 a barrel, despite gaining nearly 4 percent over the week.