Thai Bourse May Add To Its Winnings On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has climbed higher in seven straight sessions, advancing almost 60 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,660-point plateau and it may extend its gains again on Friday.

The global forecast for the oversold Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting on the docket as window dressing before the end of the year. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index gained 13.92 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 1,661.20 after trading between 1,642.48 and 1,662.07. Volume was 13.114 billion shares worth 49.917 billion baht. There were 853 gainers and 584 decliners, with 574 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.03 percent, while Thailand Airport advanced 0.99 percent, Asset World strengthened 1.59 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.34 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical spiked 2.59 percent, Bangkok Expressway shed 0.51 percent, B. Grimm rallied 2.52 percent, BTS Group added 0.59 percent, CP All Public improved 1.11 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods gained 0.82 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 1.83 percent, Gulf accelerated 2.30 percent, IRPC lost 0.66 percent, Kasikornbank gathered 0.68 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rose 0.84 percent, PTT Exploration and Production perked 0.57 percent, SCG Packaging soared 1.32 percent, Siam Commercial Bank was up 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete advanced 0.88 percent, Thai Oil climbed 0.89 percent, True Corporation rallied 2.09 percent, TTB Bank gained 0.72 percent and Banpu, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT and PTT Global Chemical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and remained firmly elevated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 345.09 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,220.80, while the NASDAQ spiked 264.80 points or 2.59 percent to end at 10,478.09 and the S&P 500 advanced 66.06 points or 1.75 percent to close at 3,849.28.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, particularly among tech stocks, which moved sharply lower over the two preceding sessions.

Overall trading activity remained subdued amid the holidays, however, with below average volume potentially exaggerating recent moves.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended December 24.

Crude oil prices drifted lower Thursday, weighed down by data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week, although a weak dollar limited oil's downside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.56 at $78.40 a barrel.