Thai Bourse May Crack Resistance At 1,600 Points

The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after it had ended the five-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 25 points or 1.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,595-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and oil stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow suit.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed performance from the energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 7.91 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 1,595.12 after trading between 1,590.33 and 1,600.60. Volume was 29.161 billion shares worth 76.941 billion baht. There were 798 decliners and 784 gainers, with 465 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport skidded 1.09 percent, while Asset World dropped 0.98 percent, Bangkok Asset Management shed 0.46 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.59 percent, Bangkok Expressway retreated 1.14 percent, BTS Group added 0.52 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods sank 0.85 percent, Gulf gained 0.75 percent, Kasikornbank rallied 2.07 percent, PTT fell 0.61 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.44 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.80 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 1.35 percent, Siam Concrete lost 0.50 percent, TMB Bank climbed 1.63 percent and Advanced Info, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Krung Thai Bank, PTT Oil & Retail and SCG Packaging were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened higher on Thursday and gathered steam as the day progressed, closing near daily highs.

The Dow climbed 171.66 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 33,153.21, while the NASDAQ spiked 233.23 points or 1.76 percent to end at 13,480.11 and the S&P 500 jumped 46.98 points or 1.18 percent to close at 4,019.87.

The rally by technology stocks in the NASDAQ reflected solid earnings news and a retreat by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note moving lower after ending the previous day at its highest closing level in a year.

Traders were also reacting to President Joe Biden’s speech regarding his $2 trillion infrastructure and economic recovery plan.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity accelerated more than expected in March. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded from their lowest level in a year last week.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher Thursday on news that OPEC has agreed to incremental increases in crude production for three months starting in May. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $2.29 or 3.9 percent at $61.45 a barrel.