The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering nearly a dozen points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished just above the 1,065-point plateau, and now traders are anticipating continued strength at the opening of trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to a rebound in the price of commodity stocks and generally good economic data out of the United States. Gold and oil stocks are expected to lead the way, while financials and steel companies also could provide support. The European and U.S. bourses finished firmly higher on Friday, and the Asian markets also are expected to track to the upside.
The SET finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the energy producers were mitigated by a mixed bag from the financial shares.
For the day, the index added 1.55 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,067.00 after trading between 1,064.40 and 1,069.94. Volume was 3.474 billion shares worth 24.387 billion baht. There were 200 gainers and 192 decliners, with 170 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, energy giant PTT was up 0.57 percent, while coal producer Banpu collected 0.27 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.56 percent, Bangkok Bank eased 0.31 percent and Kasikornbank climbed 0.83 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is fairly upbeat as stocks moved mostly higher on Friday, with traders reacting positively to a mixed batch of economic data. The markets continued to recover from the sell-off earlier in the week, although trading activity was relatively subdued ahead of the holiday weekend. The strength in the markets was partly due to an upward move by resource stocks, which moved higher along with commodities prices.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department released a report before the start of trading showing continued increases in personal income and spending in the month of April. Personal income rose by 0.4 percent in April, matching the increases seen in each of the two previous months. Personal spending also rose by 0.4 percent in April following a 0.5 percent increase in March. However, when factoring in the recent increases in prices, disposable income was nearly unchanged and spending showed only a modest increase.
A separate report from Reuters and the University of Michigan showed a notable upward revision to their consumer sentiment index for May. The index was upwardly revised to a reading of 74.3 from the preliminary reading of 72.4.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a much steeper than expected drop in pending home sales in April, with unusual weather and economic softness adding to ongoing problems in the housing market. NAR said its pending home sales index plunged by 11.6 percent in April following a downwardly revised 3.5 percent increase in March. Economists had expected pending sales to edge down by 1 percent compared to the 5.1 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
In corporate news, shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL) surged up by 11.1 percent after the chip maker reported weaker than expected first quarter earnings but provided upbeat second quarter guidance. While Marvell reported first quarter earnings of $0.29 per share, a penny below analyst estimates, it forecast second quarter earnings of $0.37 per share on revenues of $870 million to $910 million compared to analyst estimates for earnings of $0.34 per share on revenues of $875.4 million.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory but well off their best levels of the day. The Dow rose 38.82 points or 0.3 percent to 12,441.58, the NASDAQ climbed 13.94 points or 0.5 percent to 2,796.86 and the S&P 500 advanced 5.41 points or 0.4 percent to 1,331.10. While the major averages closed higher for the third straight day, they all moved lower for the week. The Dow posted a weekly loss of 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell by 0.2 percent.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.