Thai Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Constitution Day, the Thai stock market had ended the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,625-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy companies.

For the day, the index perked 2.64 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 1,623.13 after trading between 1,618.13 and 1,629.93. Volume was 12.343 billion shares worth 50.596 billion baht. There were 824 decliners and 671 gainers, with 579 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.27 percent, while Thailand Airport shed 0.68 percent, Asset World sank 0.80 percent, Banpu rallied 2.26 percent, BTS Group lost 0.60 percent, CP All Public fell 0.39 percent, Energy Absolute perked 0.26 percent, Gulf advanced 0.93 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.70 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 0.83 percent, PTT added 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 0.58 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 0.54 percent, SCG Packaging soared 2.67 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 0.91 percent, Thai Oil improved 0.46 percent, TTB Bank retreated 0.73 percent and Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway, B. Grimm, Charoen Pokphand Foods, IRPC, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, Siam Commercial Bank and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 528 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 34,005.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 139.12 points or 1.26 percent to end at 11,143.74 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.18 points or 1.43 percent to close at 3,990.56.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following last week's notable decline.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a survey from the New York Federal Reserve showing inflation expectations decreased at the short, medium, and longer terms in November.

Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 50 basis points, traders have recently expressed concerns about how much further the Fed will need to raise rates in order to contain inflation.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday on supply concerns following the continued closure of a pipeline carrying Canadian heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.15 or 3 percent at $73.17 a barrel.