Win Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for the queen's birthday, the Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,535-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on bargain hunting after a rough couple of sessions. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Friday as gains from the food, service and technology stocks were offset by weakness from the industrials.

For the day, the index rose 1.75 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 1,535.16 after trading between 1,528.95 and 1,540.19. Volume was 13.143 billion shares worth 61.828 billion shares. There were 235 decliners and 228 gainers, with 184 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport rose 0.35 percent, while Asset World crashed 10.09 percent, Banpu plunged 2.60 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.57 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical slumped 1.71 percent, Bangkok Expressway jumped 1.70 percent, CP All Public surged 2.93 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods spiked 2.04 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.43 percent, Gulf skidded 1.02 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.50 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.56 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slid 0.49 percent, PTT Exploration and Production eased 0.30 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.63 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.44 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.31 percent, Thai Oil dropped 0.92 percent, True Corporation stumbled 2.21 percent, TTB Bank soared 2.34 percent and SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, B. Grimm, PTT and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Monday; the NASDAQ and S&P 500 quickly bounced higher and stayed that way, while the Dow hugged the unchanged line throughout the session and finally finished on the green side.

The Dow added 26.23 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 35,307.63, while the NASDAQ jumped 143.48 points or 1.05 percent to close at 13,788.33 and the S&P 500 gained 25.67 points or 0.58 percent to end at 4,489.72.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting after the NASDAQ and S&P 500 ended the previous session at their lowest closing levels in a month.

Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Oil prices dropped on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.68 or 0.8 percent at $82.51 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will see Q2 figures for gross domestic product later today; in the three months prior, GDP was up 1.9 percent on quarter and 2.7 percent on year.