Thai Stock Market Poised To Bounce Higher Again On Tuesday

The Thai stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four 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 1,555-point plateau although it’s expected to find renewed support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive as financial institutions around the world continue to takes steps to head off more turmoil. The European and U. S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy producers.

For the day, the index slumped 8.22 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 1,555.45 after trading between 1,543.47 and 1,569.76. Volume was 20.477 billion shares worth 62.843 billion baht. There were 1,148 decliners and 482 gainers, with 387 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info strengthened 1.46 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.71 percent, Asset World fell 0.93 percent, Banpu tanked 2.86 percent, Bangkok Bank stumbled 1.95 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical sank 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.59 percent, B. Grimm improved 1.28 percent, BTS Group slumped 2.11 percent, CP All Public advanced 0.82 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods declined 1.38 percent, Gulf advanced 0.99 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 1.89 percent, Krung Thai Bank skidded 1.19 percent, Krung Thai Card surrendered 1.86 percent, PTT Oil & Retail climbed 1.00 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 3.20 percent, PTT Global Chemical shed 0.56 percent, SCG Packaging jumped 1.63 percent, Siam Commercial Bank dropped 0.99 percent, Thai Oil dove 1.50 percent, True Corporation plummeted 2.44 percent, TTB Bank retreated 1.48 percent and PTT, Energy Absolute and Siam Concrete were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but all eventually settled firmly in the green.

The Dow surged 382.60 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 32,244.58, while the NASDAQ rose 45.02 points or 0.39 percent to close at 11,675.54 and the S&P 500 added 34.93 points or 0.89 percent to end at 3,951.57.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest efforts to address turmoil in the banking sector, including UBS Group’s (UBS) state-backed acquisition of Credit Suisse (CS).

The Federal Reserve also announced it has joined with other central banks around to world to take coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements.

Traders were also looking ahead to the Fed’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 26.9 percent chance interest rates will remain unchanged and a 73.1 percent chance of a 25-basis point rate hike.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday to settle on a firm note, shrugging off concerns the banking chaos might lead to financial crisis or a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.90 or 1.4 percent at $67.64 a barrel.