FX.co ★ Higher Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has experienced a downturn for three consecutive sessions, declining by over a dozen points, equating to a loss of 0.8 percent. This has left the Stock Exchange of Thailand hovering just above the 1,450-point level, although a rebound is anticipated on Monday.

Globally, the forecast for Asian markets suggests minimal activity due to an absence of significant catalysts. European markets saw gains, while U.S. markets were mixed, likely guiding Asian markets to follow the latter trend.

On Friday, the SET ended moderately lower, affected by downturns in the food, finance, industrial, resource, and technology sectors.

The index dropped 4.88 points, or 0.34 percent, closing at 1,450.15, with an intra-day range from 1,446.60 to 1,460.55. Trading volume reached 12.782 billion shares, valued at 60.645 billion baht. The market saw 234 decliners and 221 gainers, with 212 stocks remaining unchanged.

Active stocks showed varied performance: Advanced Info declined 1.52 percent, Thailand Airport increased 0.79 percent, Banpu rose 0.72 percent, while Bangkok Bank plunged 2.60 percent, and Bangkok Dusit Medical decreased 0.82 percent. B. Grimm fell 0.84 percent, CP All Public saw a slight rise of 0.38 percent, and Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 1.65 percent. Energy Absolute surged 10.12 percent, Gulf fell 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 2.92 percent, Krung Thai Bank slipped 0.48 percent, Krung Thai Card fell 1.04 percent, PTT Oil & Retail decreased 1.14 percent. PTT climbed 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 4.00 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.81 percent, SCG Packaging declined 2.48 percent, Siam Commercial Bank decreased 0.90 percent, Thai Oil slid 0.49 percent. True Corporation fell 0.89 percent, and TTB Bank, Asset World, Bangkok Expressway, and BTS Group remained unchanged.

Wall Street offered little in terms of direction, as major averages showed mixed and relatively unchanged results after a slightly higher opening on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 137.89 points, or 0.33 percent, to finish at a record 42,313.00. Conversely, the NASDAQ fell 70.70 points, or 0.39 percent, ending at 18,119.59, while the S&P 500 dipped 7.20 points, or 0.13 percent, closing at 5,738.17. Over the week, the NASDAQ rose by 1.0 percent, with the Dow and S&P 500 both up 0.6 percent.

This mixed Wall Street performance followed the release of significant data on U.S. consumer price inflation for August. The Commerce Department reported a 0.1 percent increase in its personal consumption expenditures price index for August, in line with expectations, following a 0.2 percent rise in July.

Oil futures rose on Friday, driven by additional stimulus measures from the Chinese government, which alleviated concerns about future demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November gained $0.51, closing at $68.18 a barrel.

Looking ahead, Thailand will release August data for imports, exports, trade balance, and current account later today. In July, imports increased by 15.8 percent year-on-year, and exports grew by 15.3 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of $0.90 billion. The current account recorded a surplus of $0.300 billion in the previous month.