(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last eight trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 1.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,340-point plateau and it's likely to head south again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on rising tensions between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and the energy producers.
For the day, the index dropped 18.73 points or 1.38 percent to finish at 1,340.92 after trading between 1,337.21 and 1,350.93. Volume was 15.230 billion shares worth 46.529 billion baht. There were 1,097 decliners and 398 gainers, with 293 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 1.07 percent, while Thailand Airport tumbled 1.78 percent, Asset World shed 0.50 percent, Bangkok Bank sank 0.95 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skidded 1.36 percent, Bangkok Expressway retreated 1.65 percent, BTS Group declined 1.87 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods lost 1.49 percent, Kasikornbank fell 1.15 percent, Krung Thai Bank slid 1.94 percent, PTT plummeted 3.14 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.61 percent, PTT Global Chemical plunged 3.00 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gave away 2.08 percent, Siam Concrete was down 1.55 percent and TMB Bank was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened lower on Friday and remained firmly in the red throughout the session.
The Dow shed 182.41 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 26,469.89, while the NASDAQ lost 98.22 points or 0.94 percent to end at 10,363.18 and the S&P 500 fell 20.03 points or 0.62 percent to close at 3,215.63. For the week, the Dow sank 0.8 percent, the NASDAQ fell 1.3 percent and the S&P eased 0.3 percent.
The weakness on Wall Street also came amid concerns about rising tensions between the U.S. and China after Beijing decided to revoke the license for the establishment and operation of the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu.
The move comes just days after the U.S. government ordered China to close its consulate in Houston, Texas, amid accusations Chinese diplomats aided in economic espionage and the attempted theft of scientific research.
Worries about the continued spike in coronavirus cases also generated some negative sentiment, with daily new cases rising in the U.S. by at least 5 percent in 25 states.
Crude oil prices edged higher Friday as stronger than expected economic data from Europe and the U.S. helped ease worries about energy demand outlook. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended higher by $0.22 or 0.5 percent at $41.29 a barrel.
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