Thai Stock Market Called Higher On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,380-point plateau although it's expected to open to the upside on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with strength likely from the technology shares. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets are tipped to open to the upside.

The SET finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the food, property, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index fell 3.98 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,378.70 after trading between 1,377.42 and 1,389.28. Volume was 12.653 billion shares worth 44.067 billion baht. There were 273 decliners and 223 gainers, with 167 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Thailand Airport tumbled 1.87 percent, while Asset World shed 0.49 percent, Banpu skyrocketed 8.41 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.36 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical stumbled 1.71 percent, Bangkok Expressway declined 0.63 percent, B. Grimm sank 0.93 percent, BTS Group fell 0.82 percent, CP All Public lost 0.85 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.89 percent, Energy Absolute slumped 0.94 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Krung Thai Card and TTB Bank both gained 0.57 percent, PTT perked 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rallied 2.26 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.66 percent, Siam Commercial Bank added 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.20 percent, True Corporation tanked 2.29 percent and Kasikornbank, SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, Gulf, PTT Oil & Retail and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and closed in the same fashion.

The Dow stumbled 196.82 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 39,806.77, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.91 points or 0.65 percent to close at a record high 16,794.88 and the S&P 500 rose 4.86 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,308.13.

The advance by the NASDAQ reflected strength in the tech sector, with semiconductor stocks leading the way as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped by 2.2 percent to a two-month closing high.

Gold stocks also saw notable strength on the day, as the price of the precious metal reached a new record high, while banking stocks and telecom stocks moved to the downside.

The Dow was hit by profit taking after the index closed above 40,000 points for the first time on Friday.

Oil prices settled lower on Monday, weighed down by concerns the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for a longer time. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures dropped to around $79.80, down $0.26 from the previous close.