Thai Stock Market: Resistance Expected At 1,600 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 35 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,595-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support from oil stocks likely offset by weakness from technology and retail companies. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and energy companies.

For the day, the index gained 14.27 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 1,594.47 after trading between 1,576.75 and 1,596.27. Volume was 20.031 billion hares worth 60.346 billion baht. There were 890 gainers and 752 decliners, with 575 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 0.99 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 2.49 percent, Asset World advanced 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.75 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rose 0.40 percent, Bangkok Expressway strengthened 1.72 percent, BTS Group jumped 1.75 percent, CP All Public improved 0.82 percent, Energy Absolute dropped 0.90 percent, Gulf added 0.52 percent, IRPC gathered 1.23 percent, Kasikornbank perked 0.33 percent, Krung Thai Bank increased 1.31 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.42 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 0.95 percent, PTT soared 2.94 percent, PTT Exploration and Production surged 3.83 percent, PTT Global Chemical was up 1.09 percent, Siam Commercial Bank picked up 0.48 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.26 percent, Thai Oil spiked 2.45 percent, True Corporation added 0.42 percent, TTB Bank advanced 0.81 percent and Banpu, Charoen Pokphand Foods and SCG Packaging were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages shook off early gains and quickly turned lower, finishing the day near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 491.27 points or 1.56 percent to finish at 30,946.99, while the NASDAQ plunged 343.01 points or 2.98 percent to close at 11,181.54 and the S&P 500 slumped 78.56 points or 2.01 percent to end at 3,821.55.

The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to news that China has cut quarantine times for international travelers in a big step toward easing Covid-19 controls.

But buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with lingering concerns about a potential recession continuing to weigh on the markets.

Negative sentiment may also have been generated in reaction to a report from the Conference Board showing U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, extending recent gains after Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates indicated that they can barely increase oil production. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended higher by $2.19 or 2 percent at $111.76 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see May numbers for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.5 percent on year - up from 0.56 percent in April.