Additional Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 40 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,560-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

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

The SET finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the food companies and mixed performances from the financials and energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 2.27 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,558.83 after trading between 1,552.18 and 1,564.05. Volume was 31.943 billion shares worth 83.642 billion baht. There were 883 decliners and 619 gainers, with 488 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport advanced 0.76 percent, while Asset World added 0.41 percent, Bangkok Asset Management and Bangkok Dusit Medical both shed 0.47 percent, BTS Group lost 0.54 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.74 percent, Gulf sank 0.75 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 0.80 percent, PTT skidded 1.27 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tanked 2.20 percent, PTT Global Chemical perked 0.82 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.77 percent and TMB Bank, Advanced Info, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Expressway, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging and Siam Commercial Bank all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks moved mostly higher on Thursday – especially the tech-heavy NASDAQ.

The Dow added 57.31 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 33,503.57, while the NASDAQ jumped 140.47 points or 1.03 percent to end at 13,829.31 and the S&P 500 gained 17.22 points or 0.42 percent to close at 4,097.17.

The strength among tech stocks came following the Federal Reserve’s repeated assurances that monetary policy is likely to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.

Stocks saw continued strength following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks, which said the economic recovery remains uneven and incomplete and that further coronavirus outbreaks could slow the pace of the recovery.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased last week.

Crude oil prices eased on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases and lockdown measures in several countries. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May dipped $0.17 or 0.3 percent at $59.60 a barrel.