The Thai stock market has finished lower now in back-to-back sessions, shedding more than a dozen points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand finished just below the 1,015-point plateau, and now traders may be tempted to scoop up bargains at the opening of trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is conflicted, pitting optimism regarding the Greek debt crisis against pessimism regarding U.S. economic data. Crude oil stocks are expected to see considerable pressure, along with gold and property stocks - while airlines, technology, retail and telecom stocks are expected to rise. The European markets finished sharply lower and the U.S. bourses were mixed, and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses among the energy producers and the financial shares.
For the day, the index lost 9.73 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 1,014.13 after trading between 1,013.38 and 1,020.09. Volume 3.341 billion shares worth 19.383 billion baht. There were 297 decliners and 110 gainers, with 130 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the decliners, energy giant PTT was down 0.30 percent, while PTT Chemical shed 0.67 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 1.20 percent, coal producer Banpu fell 1.12 percent, Kasikornbank plunged 1.75 percent and Bangkok Bank dropped 1.33 percent.
The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as stocks staged a significant recovery in late-day trading on Thursday after a weak start, ending the session mixed. Reports about a deal on Greece's austerity plan helped to offset concerns about the economic outlook.
The early weakness on Wall Street was partly in reaction to the Federal Reserve's downwardly revised economic growth outlook, which was released late in the day on Wednesday. Indicating that the economic recovery is continuing at a somewhat slower than expected pace, the Fed downwardly revised its growth outlook for 2011 and 2012.
Additional selling pressure was generated by the release of a report from the Labor Department showing a notable increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 18.
Resource stocks helped to lead the way lower amid a sell-off in the commodities markets. The price of oil fell by more than $4 a barrel on news that the International Energy Agency plans to release 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market.
However, buying interest emerged later in the trading day after reports that Greece has won the consent of a group of inspectors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund regarding its new five-year austerity plan. The inspectors approved the plan after Greece committed to an additional round of tax rises and spending cuts. While the reported deal has generated some optimism about the outlook for the financial situation in Greece, the austerity measures still must be approved by the Greek parliament.
The major averages all moved to the upside going into the close, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ climbing firmly into positive territory. The NASDAQ rose 17.56 points or 0.7 percent to 2,686.75, while the Dow fell 59.67 points or 0.5 percent at 12,050.00 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.64 points or 0.3 percent to 1,283.50. While the Dow and the S&P 500 remained stuck in negative territory, they closed well off their worst levels of the day. The Dow was down more than 200 points at its low for the session.
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