Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Wednesday

The Thai stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 30 points or 2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,455-point plateau although the rally may stall on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, supported by oil and technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the food, consumer, finance, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index climbed 17.65 points or 1.23 percent to finish at 1,454.76 after trading between 1,441.43 and 1,455.84. Volume was 10.636 billion shares worth 46.734 billion baht. There were 313 gainers and 164 decliners, with 187 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info soared 3.50 percent, while Thailand Airport gained 0.40 percent, Asset World added 0.55 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.67 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical picked up 2.97 percent, B. Grimm jumped 2.37 percent, BTS Group rallied 1.80 percent, CP All Public was up 2.41 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.26 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 12.82 percent, Gulf skyrocketed 6.94 percent, Kasikornbank improved 1.32 percent, Krung Thai Bank rallied 1.50 percent, Krung Thai Card accelerated 2.67 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 1.42 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 0.99 percent, PTT Global Chemical perked 1.98 percent, SCG Packaging increased 0.93 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 1.10 percent, Thai Oil surged 3.33 percent, True Corporation spiked 2.59 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.13 percent and Banpu, PTT and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday, although the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were able to break into the green to record closing highs by the day’s end.

The Dow sank 76.47 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 44,705.53, while the NASDAQ added 76.96 points or 0.40 percent to close at 19,480.91 and the S&P rose 2.73 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,049.

A relatively light day on the U.S. economic front may have kept traders on the sidelines, although the Labor Department reported that job openings increased by more than expected in October.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on private sector employment, service sector activity and consumer sentiment as well as remarks by several Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The data and remarks could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed’s next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday on easing concerns about excess supply on hopes that OPEC will delay plans to return its production cuts by a few more months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.84 or 2.7 percent at $69.94 a barrel.