Thai Shares Poised To See Additional Support

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 90 points or 5.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,575-point plateau and it's got a strong lead for Wednesday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the health of the financial sector. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board, especially among the financials and the resource stocks.

For the day, the index spiked 21.73 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 1,577.18 after trading between 1,561.65 and 1,579.69. Volume was 18.035 billion shares worth 53.360 billion baht. There were 1,128 gainers and 487 decliners, with 391 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info jumped 2.39 percent, while Thailand Airport perked 0.36 percent, Asset World spiked 1.87 percent, Banpu rallied 2.94 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical added 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway advanced 1.18 percent, B. Grimm climbed 1.27 percent, BTS Group gained 0.72 percent, CP All Public gained 1.62 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods gathered 0.93 percent, Energy Absolute soared 3.08 percent, Gulf rallied 2.93 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.93 percent, Krung Thai Bank gathered 1.20 percent, Krung Thai Card added 1.42 percent, PTT Oil & Retail soared 3.45 percent, PTT improved 2.50 percent, PTT Exploration and Production spiked 2.94 percent, PTT Global Chemical climbed 1.70 percent, SCG Packaging rose 0.53 percent, Siam Commercial Bank increased 1.49 percent, Siam Concrete jumped 1.59 percent, Thai Oil improved 1.02 percent, True Corporation surged 4.38 percent and TTB Bank accelerated 2.26 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 316.02 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 32,560.60, while the NASDAQ spiked 184.57 points or 1.58 percent to end at 11,860.11 and the S&P 500 climbed 51.30 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,002.87.

The extended rally on Wall Street partly reflected easing concerns about turmoil in the financial sector following recent steps taken to rescue distressed banks in the U.S. and Europe.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to remarks by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said the government is prepared to once again take action to protect bank depositors if smaller lenders are threatened.

Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. While the recent banking turmoil led to some speculation the Fed may leave interest rates unchanged, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 86.4 percent chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Tuesday, gaining for a second straight session amid improving risk sentiment thanks to the coordinated efforts by major central banks to rescue troubled U.S. and European lenders. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.69 or 2.5 percent at $69.33 a barrel.