The Thai stock market has climbed higher now in eight consecutive trading days, collecting more than 30 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just beneath the 1,645-point plateau and it's looking at another green light again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with support expected from the oil and technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.
For the day, the index advanced 6.01 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 1,643.55 after trading between 1,639.14 and 1,646.16. Volume was 8.749 billion shares worth 51.233 billion baht. There were 693 gainers and 560 decliners, with 425 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Banpu shed 0.57 percent, while Bangkok Bank lost 0.53 percent, Bangkok Expressway jumped 1.28 percent, Kasikornbank skidded 0.94 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.08 percent, PTT added 0.50 percent, PTT Exploration and Production dropped 1.13 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 1.31 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 1.00 percent, Siam Concrete gained 0.40 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Medical, Advanced Info and Thailand Airport all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks moved higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 hitting a record closing high.
The Dow added 61.49 points or 0.28 percent to 22,118.86, while the NASDAQ gained 22.02 points or 0.34 percent to 6,454.28 and the S&P was up 8.37 points or 0.34 percent to 2,496.48.
Tech stocks strengthened amid Apple's highly-anticipated product launches - including its much awaited iPhone 8, iPhone 8S, and the iPhone X, its biggest iPhone redesign in a decade.
Financials also got a boost on optimism for tax reform by year's end.
Crude oil futures continued to rise Tuesday amid hopes that OPEC can re-balance oil markets by possibly extending the oil production cuts that expire in March. October WTI oil was up 16 cents or 0.3 percent to $48.23/bbl.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis