Thailand’s Stock Exchange of Thailand closed Thursday’s session barely in positive territory, snapping a two-day losing streak that had erased more than 15 points, or roughly 1 percent, from the index.
The SET settled at 1,609.99, a gain of just 0.23 points or 0.01 percent, after trading in a range between 1,609.36 and 1,622.40 during the session.
Trading volume reached 13.019 billion shares with a total value of 82.362 billion baht, reflecting active but cautious participation from market players.
Gainers numbered 254 against 194 decliners, while 205 stocks ended the day unchanged, pointing to a broadly divided market with no clear directional conviction.
Modest advances in the food and finance sectors provided some support, but weakness across technology, resource, and industrial companies limited the overall upside.
The global outlook heading into Friday’s session is decidedly negative, driven by surging crude oil prices and escalating unrest across the Middle East, with European and U.S. markets both closing lower.
Wall Street delivered a sharply negative lead, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 703.84 points, or 1.32 percent, to close at 52,759.21 on Thursday.
The NASDAQ dropped 263.92 points, or 1.00 percent, to end at 26,067.17, while the S&P 500 sank 66.82 points, or 0.87 percent, to settle at 7,641.16, with all three major averages finishing near their session lows.
The sell-off on Wall Street was driven largely by a sharp extension in crude oil prices, fueled by mounting concerns over the Middle East conflict following President Donald Trump’s latest threats of economic warfare against Iran.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery surged $2.01, or 2.34 percent, to $87.84 per barrel after Trump announced stringent new economic measures targeting Tehran.
The spike in oil prices triggered a substantial rebound in Treasury yields, which had fallen sharply on Wednesday following the Treasury Department’s announcement of upscaled buyback operations for longer-term debt.
With Asian bourses broadly expected to follow Wall Street lower, the SET is likely to open under water on Friday as traders weigh the compounding pressure of rising energy costs and geopolitical risk across the region.
