Thai Stocks Expected To Test Resistance At 1,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 15 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,290-point plateau and it's tipped to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with gains from the technology stocks likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. 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 sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 13.26 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 1,288.29 after trading between 1,282.95 and 1,294.14. Volume was 8.284 billion shares worth 35.286 billion baht. There were 319 gainers and 142 decliners, with 191 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World soared 3.60 percent, while Banpu advanced 0.88 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.02 percent, Bangkok Expressway accelerated 3.96 percent, B. Grimm skyrocketed 5.22 percent, BTS Group gained 0.65 percent, CP All Public expanded 1.59 percent, Energy Absolute rallied 2.40 percent, Gulf jumped 1.75 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.81 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.65 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.44 percent, PTT Global Chemical climbed 1.00 percent, SCG Packaging improved 1.07 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.78 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.44 percent, Thai Oil vaulted 1.43 percent, True Corporation surged 3.81 percent, TTB Bank added 0.53 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Kasikornbank, Advanced Info, PTT, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be cautiously optimistic as the major averages recovered from a midday slump on Thursday to finish with mild gains at fresh record highs.

The Dow added 78.62 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 46,519.72, while the NASDAQ gained 88.89 points or 0.39 percent to end at 22,844.05 and the S&P 500 perked 4.15 points or 0.06 percent to close at 6,715.35.

The continued advance by the major averages reflected optimism about the artificial intelligence trade, which contributed to strength among tech stocks, especially Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Meanwhile, traders continued to shrug off concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which entered its second day with no signs of an imminent resolution.

Due to the shutdown, the releases of reports on weekly jobless claims and factory orders that were scheduled for this week have been indefinitely postponed.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday on anxiety about the long-term impact of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which enters the second day today. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.23 or 1.99 percent at $60.55 per barrel.