The Thai stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 2.2 percent
The Thai stock market has finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 2.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,340-point plateau and it’s looking at another firm lead for Wednesday’s trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism for an economic recovery. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the energy producers and a mixed performance from the financial shares.
For the day, the index gained 9.27 points or 0.70 percent to finish at the daily low of 1,339.03 after peaking at 1,351.59. Volume was 13.753 billion shares worth 58.689 billion baht. There were 823 gainers and 488 decliners, with 344 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.07 percent, while Thailand Airport accelerated 2.11 percent, Asset World spiked 2.66 percent, Banpu advanced 0.83 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.93 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical gathered 2.27 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.54 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.98 percent, PTT perked 1.34 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.55 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 2.78 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 1.02 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.82 percent, TMB Bank was up 0.96 percent and Bangkok Expressway, BTS Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks moved notably higher on Tuesday, extending the strong upward move seen in the previous session.
The Dow jumped 217.08 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 25,812.88, while the NASDAQ soared 184.61 points or 1.87 percent to end at 10.058.77 and the S&P 500 advanced 47.05 points or 1.54 percent to close at 3,100.29.
Traders continued to express optimism about the economic outlook despite the continued spike in new coronavirus cases across several states.
Adding to the positive sentiment, the Conference Board reported a bigger than expected improvement in consumer confidence in June. Also, a separate report released by MNI Indicators showed a continued contraction in Chicago-area business activity last month.
Traders also kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee regarding the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Powell said output and employment remain far below pre-pandemic levels and cautioned the outlook for the economy is “extraordinarily uncertain.”
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand persisted due to continued surge in new cases of coronavirus around the world. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended down $0.43 or 1.1 percent at $39.27 a barrel.
Thailand will release June results for its business confidence index later today; in May, the index score was 34.4.