Thai Stock Market May See Additional Support On Friday

The Thai stock market has moved higher in consecutive trading days, collecting more than 20 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,400-point plateau and it my inch slightly higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology and energy stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financials and energy and construction companies.

For the day, the index added 8.86 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 1,402.47 after trading between 1m393.52 and 1,405.13. Volume was 18.534 billion shares worth 51.360 billion baht. There were 316 gainers and 161 decliners, with 185 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info accelerated 1.95 percent, while Thailand Airport strengthened 1.18 percent, Asset World advanced 1.01 percent, Banpu soared 2.52 percent, Bangkok Bank climbed 1.05 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical skyrocketed 5.26 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 1.28 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.90 percent, BTS Group increased 0.93 percent, CP All Public rose 0.44 percent, Energy Absolute surged 3.90 percent, Gulf added 0.56 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.40 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.84 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 1.07 percent, PTT Global Chemical shed 0.64 percent, SCG Packaging spiked 1.71 percent, Siam Concrete rallied 1.87 percent, Thai Oil lost 0.85 percent and True Corporation, TTB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher and continued to climb as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 456.87 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 39,069.11, while the NASDAQ soared 460.72 points or 2.96 percent to end at 16,041.62 and the S&P 500 rallied 105.23 points or 2.11 percent to close at 5,087.03.

The rally on Wall Street largely reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the chipmaker spiking by 16.4 percent to a record closing high.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors noted a big rebound in existing home sales in January.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as rising tensions in the Middle East raised the possibility of a near-term supply disruption. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April added $0.70 or 0.9 percent at $78.61 a barrel.

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