Ahead of Monday's holiday for Makha Bucha Day, the Thai stock market had snapped the three-day winning streak in which it had added more than 40 points or 2.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just above the 1,535-point plateau although it figures to see a modest rebound on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on the belief the coronavirus will soon be eliminated. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished barely lower on Friday as losses from the energy producers were offset by support from the financial sector.
For the day, the index eased 0.55 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,535.24 after trading between 1,527.34 and 1,539.36. Volume was 18.661 billion shares worth 60.509 billion baht. There were 866 decliners and 669 gainers, with 518 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info tumbled 2.21 percent, while Thailand Airport sank 2.05 percent, Asset World advanced 0.91 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.02 percent, Bangkok Expressway increased 0.92 percent, BTS Group accelerated 2.34 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods added 0.87 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.35 percent, Krung Thai Bank gained 0.62 percent, PTT shed 0.57 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.80 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.93 percent, Siam Concrete fell 0.27 percent, TMB Bank soared 2.08 percent and Banpu, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Siam Commercial Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks shook off early weakness on Monday and moved higher as the day progressed.
The Dow added 174.31 points or 0.60 percent to end at 29,276.82, while the NASDAQ rose 107.88 points or 1.13 percent to 9,628.39 and the S&P 500 gained 24.38 points or 0.73 percent to 3,352.09.
The strength on Wall Street came as traders returned to ignoring concerns about the economic impact of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese government has revealed that a total of 40,171 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, with 908 people dying from the disease.
Traders seemed reassured by Chinese President Xi Jinping's pledge to win the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, adding that China will speed up the development of drugs aimed at treating the deadly pneumonia-like virus.
Crude oil prices declined sharply on Monday amid rising concerns about the global economy and the outlook for energy demand due to the coronavirus outbreak. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended down $0.75 or 1.5 percent at $49.57 a barrel, the lowest settlement for a front-month contract since early January 2019.
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