Thai Bourse May Take Another Crack At 1,500-Point Level

The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 30 points or 2.1 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,495-point plateau and it’s expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on decent earnings and economic news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the finance, resource and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the food and industrial stocks.

For the day, the index gained 10.01 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 1,495.02 after trading between 1,489.72 and 1,498.61. Volume was 13.442 billion shares worth 60.376 billion baht. There were 276 decliners and 223 gainers, with 171 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info soared 3.43 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.78 percent, Asset World lost 0.52 percent, Banpu retreated 1.53 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.63 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 0.86 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.61 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.83 percent, BTS Group climbed 0.88 percent, CP All Public fell 0.38 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.58 percent, Gulf surged 5.70 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.99 percent, Krung Thai Bank stumbled 1.38 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.51 percent, PTT Oil & Retail dropped 0.59 percent, PTT improved 0.75 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.90 percent, PTT Global Chemical tanked 2.80 percent, SCG Packaging tumbled 1.82 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 1.37 percent, Siam Concrete surrendered 2.78 percent, Thai Oil slumped 2.06 percent, True Corporation accelerated 3.42 percent and TTB Bank and Charoen Pokphand Foods were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but ebbed and flowed as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 161.35 points or 0.37 percent to finish at a record 43,239.05, while the NASDAQ rose 6.53 points or 0.04 percent to close at 18,373.61 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.00 point or 0.02 percent to end at 5,841.47.

Strength among semiconductor stocks supported the markets for much of the session before a late-day pullback, although the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index still ended up 1.0 percent.

The strength in the sector came after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) reported a sharp increase in third quarter profits.

In economic news, Commerce Department said retail sales increased more than expected in September. Also, the Labor Department noted an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday, supported by data showing an unexpected drop in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $70.67 a barrel.