Additional Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 20 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,625-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests lid upside, with optimism over interest rates offset by weakness from crude oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday as the financial shares and energy producers were mostly higher.

For the day, the index gained 14.35 points or 0.89 percent to finish at 1,626.27 after trading between 1,607.73 and 1,627.57. Volume was 30.105 billion shares worth 85.650 billion baht. There were 1,094 gainers and 624 decliners, with 513 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.79 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.39 percent, Bangkok Bank rallied 2.81 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical climbed 1.27 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.56 percent, BTS Group shed 0.53 percent, CP All Public increased 0.39 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.99 percent, Gulf advanced 1.18 percent, Home Product Center spiked 2.68 percent, Kasikornbank soared 3.87 percent, Krung Thai Card accelerated 3.10 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tumbled 1.89 percent, PTT lost 0.66 percent, PTT Exploration and Production perked 0.43 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.81 percent, SCG Packaging was up 0.40 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.38 percent, Siam Concrete dipped 0.25 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.74 percent and IRPC and Krung Thai Bank were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both opened higher and stayed that way to hit fresh record closing highs, while the Dow opened lower and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow shed 33.35 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 36,124.23, while the NASDAQ jumped 128.72 points or 0.81 percent to close at 15.940.31 and the S&P added 19.49 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,680.06.

Another batch of earnings news was a driving factor as strong results from chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM) helped to send the NASDAQ higher, while losses by Dow Inc. (DOW), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Travelers (TRV) contributed to the modest pullback by the Dow.

Traders also continued to react positively to the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank announcing plans to scale back its asset purchases but signaling it won’t be in a hurry to begin raising interest rates.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in September.

Crude oil prices tumbled and settled at their lowest level in nearly a month on Thursday after OPEC decided to stick with its plan to raise oil output modestly and gradually. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended lower by $2.05 or 2.5 percent at $78.81 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release October numbers for consumer prices later today, with overall inflation expected to rise 1.91 percent on year after gaining 1.68 percent in September. Core CPI is tipped to add 0.3 percent on year after rising 0.19 percent a month earlier.