Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gathering almost 30 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,625-point plateau although it may see profit taking on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials, cement companies and energy stocks.

For the day, the index improved 16.97 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 1,625.73 after trading between 1,613.96 and 1,628.29. Volume was 22.898 billion shares worth 68.448 billion baht. There were 1,222 gainers and 534 decliners, with 473 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info strengthened 1.31 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.34 percent, Banpu improved 0.80 percent, Bangkok Expressway retreated 1.60 percent, B. Grimm spiked 2.96 percent, BTS Group added 0.60 percent, CP All Public gained 0.83 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.99 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.55 percent, Gulf rallied 1.98 percent, IRPC increased 1.27 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Card gathered 1.32 percent, PTT Oil & Retail perked 1.24 percent, PTT Exploration and Production surged 3.03 percent, PTT Global Chemical accelerated 1.72 percent, SCG Packaging soared 2.88 percent, Siam Commercial Bank was up 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete skyrocketed 4.01 percent, Thai Oil improved 0.92 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.74 percent and Asset World, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Krung Thai Bank, PTT and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Tuesday, quickly heading south and ending in the red.

The Dow shed 79.75 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 32,653.20, while the NASDAQ dropped 97.30 points or 0.89 percent to end at 10,890.85 and the S&P 500 fell 15.88 points or 0.41 percent to close at 3,856.10.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came as traders wished to consolidate their positions ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points, but traders have expressed optimism the central bank will signal plans to slow the pace of rate hikes at upcoming meetings.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a jump in U.S. job openings in September, while the Institute for Supply Management showed a slight increase in U.S. manufacturing activity in October. Also, the Commerce Department said construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly increased in October.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday on a weak dollar, a reduction in OPEC crude output, an upward revision in oil demand forecast by OPEC, and record U.S. oil export data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December jumped $1.84 or 2.1 percent at $88.37 a barrel.