May 23, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - The Thai stock market is expected to lose momentum next week after recent rallies, an analyst said, with the index heavily dependent on overseas factors.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 20.10 points or 3.76 percent over the past week to close Friday at 554.02.
But the average daily trading value dropped 15.35 percent to 24.5 billion baht (713.5 million dollars) over the same period.
"The market will not gain or lose much after sharp gains in recent weeks," said Rakpong Chaisuparakul, an analyst at KGI Securities (Thailand).
He said investors will look for overseas economic data, particularly from the United States, which is due to release figures on first quarter growth, unemployment and new home sales.
He said investors were unlikely to be affected much by the release of Thailand's first quarter growth figures on Monday as they already expected a contraction.
Rakpong said the index would overall probably gain slightly, as no clear negative factor is expected.
