(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after it had ended the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 50 points or 3.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,545-point plateau and it's expected to add to its winnings on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid economic data, easing bond yields and support from crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and energy producers.
For the day, the index added 10.00 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 1,544.11 after trading between 1,529.83 and 1,553.92. Volume was 34.309 billion shares worth 104.811 billion baht. There were 860 decliners and 717 gainers, with 458 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.89 percent, while Thailand Airport advanced 0.75 percent, Bangkok Asset Management added 0.47 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.61 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical shed 0.46 percent, BTS Group gained 0.53 percent, Gulf tanked 2.17 percent, Kasikornbank soared 3.46 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.83 percent, PTT perked 1.25 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rallied 2.20 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 3.56 percent, SCG Packaging sank 1.07 percent, Siam Commercial Bank spiked 2.76 percent, Siam Concrete lost 0.54 percent, TMB Bank improved 1.74 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Asset World and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as stocks opened higher on Friday, fell into the red but then spiked to close firmly in the green.
The Dow surged 572.16 points or 1.85 percent to finish at 31,496.30, while the NASDAQ jumped 196.68 points or 1.55 percent to end at 12,920.15 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.47 points or 1.95 percent to close at 3,841.94. For the week, the Dow added 1.8 percent, the NASDAQ sank 2.1 percent and the S&P rose 0.8 percent.
The wild ride on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on the bond markets following the recent increase in yields - which spiked early in the session after the release of upbeat jobs data.
However, bond yields eased to end nearly flat, which inspired traders to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the weakness seen in recent sessions.
The volatility in the markets followed the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report, which showed much stronger than expected job growth in February. The report also said the jobless rate fell to 6.2 percent, the lowest in a year.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, extending gains after OPEC decided to maintain its output reduction agreement through April. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $2.26 or 3.5 percent at $66.09 a barrel, the highest settlement since June 2019. WTI futures gained more than 7 percent in the week.
Closer to home, Thailand will see January figures for unemployment later today; in December, the jobless rate was 1.5 percent.
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