Higher Open Called For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, adding almost 25 points or 2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,275-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on growing optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the consumer, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 9.97 points or 0.79 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,276.08 after trading as low as 1,266.58. Volume was 10.825 billion shares worth 47.384 billion baht. There were 311 gainers and 160 decliners, with 182 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport strengthened 1.99 percent, while Banpu tanked 2.42 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.33 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.48 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 0.91 percent, B. Grimm surged 5.47 percent, BTS Group plunged 3.91 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tumbled 1.70 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 3.65 percent, Gulf spiked 3.31 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.58 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.96 percent, Krung Thai Card stumbled 1.71 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.68 percent, PTT jumped 2.36 percent, PTT Exploration and Production and Siam Concrete both dropped 0.89 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.11 percent, True Corporation advanced 0.88 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.53 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, PTT Global Chemical, Asset World, Advanced Info, Thai Oil and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Tuesday and trended generally higher to finish at record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 196.39 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 45,711.34, while the NASDAQ improved 80.79 points or 0.37 percent to close at 21,193.11 and the S&P 500 gained 17.46 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,512.61.

The strength on Wall Street reflected ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of closely watched inflation data in the coming days. The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer price inflation and consumer price inflation today and tomorrow, respectively.

While last Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs data increased confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates at its meeting next week, the inflation data could influence how aggressively the central bank lowers rates.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said non-farm employment for the 12 months through March 2025 was downwardly revised by 911,000 jobs, also fueling optimism for a rate cut.

Crude oil advanced on Tuesday, extending gains for the second day amid increasing expectations of western sanctions against Russia, while the Israeli attack on Qatar added support to oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.29 or 0.47 percent at $62.55 per barrel.