The Thai stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sliding more than 30 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,240-point plateau and it's called lower again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising coronavirus cases and falling hopes for stimulus. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are predicted to follow suit.
Rattled by political protests, the SET finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the energy and cement stocks, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index dropped 21.03 points or 1.66 percent to finish at 1,242.96 after trading between 1,240.75 and 1,258.09. Volume was 20.555 billion shares worth 54.209 billion baht. There were 1,287 decliners and 365 gainers, with 314 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.28 percent, while Thailand Airport tanked 2.62 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 2.31 percent, BTS Group plunged 3.11 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 1.89 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.04 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.57 percent, PTT sank 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dipped 0.31 percent, PTT Global Chemical rallied 2.45 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.39 percent, Siam Concrete declined 2.01 percent, TMB Bank lost 1.18 percent and Asset World, Bangkok Bank and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened sharply lower on Friday, then cut into the losses as the session progressed but still finished in the red for the second straight day.
The Dow fell 19.80 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 28,494.20, while the NASDAQ lost 54.86 points or 0.47 percent to end at 11,713.87 and the S&P 500 eased 5.33 points or 0.15 percent to close at 3,483.34.
The initial sell-off on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about a new stimulus bill after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested on Wednesday that a new relief package is not likely to pass before next month's elections.
Early selling pressure was also generated by a Labor Department report showing an unexpected increase in first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits last week.
However, stocks rebounded well off their lows after Mnuchin told reporters that he and President Donald Trump are committed to getting a stimulus deal done.
Crude oil prices rebounded from early weakness to pare most of their losses on Thursday after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.08 or 0.2 percent at $40.96 a barrel.
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