On Friday, the Thai stock market ended its two-day winning streak, where it had gathered more than 15 points or 1.1 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand currently sits just above the 1,385-point mark and is predicted to drift lower again come Monday.
Investors are showing caution due to the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later this week, which is causing instability globally. While European markets remained generally stable with mixed results, US markets experienced a downturn.
On Friday, the SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) finished slightly lower, driven primarily by losses in the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, and technology sectors. The index experienced a drop of 8.89 points or 0.64 percent, ending at the day’s lowest point of 1,386.04 after trading as high as 1,393.26. The day concluded with a trading volume of 17.108 billion shares worth 49.767 billion baht, boasting 233 gainers against 246 decliners, with 185 stocks remaining unchanged.
The active stocks' performance varied. Advanced Info saw a slump in value of 1.44 percent, while Asset World increased by 0.51 percent. Other significant changes included Banpu jumping 1.75 percent, Bangkok Bank retreating 1.43 percent, and BTS Group falling by 1.85 percent. The rest of the active stocks experienced comparable ups and downs.
U.S. markets opened lower on Friday, a trend that continued throughout the trading day, instigating the negative trend in Wall Street. The Dow fell by 0.49 percent, NASDAQ dropped 0.96 percent, and the S&P 500 sank 0.65 percent. This downturn on Wall Street was primarily due to concerns over future interest rates. Although the Federal Reserve is forecasted not to change interest rates, traders are keenly awaiting the attached statement for insights into future interest rates.
February saw an increase in U.S. import prices in line with estimates and export prices exceeding expectations. The Fed also reported a modest increase in U.S. industrial production in February. Oil prices, on a different note, retreated from multi-month highs due to profit-taking after previous strong gains, causing West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April to end at $81.04 a barrel, down $0.22.
