Additional Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday halted the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 30 points or 2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,540-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oversold markets likely to rebound on possible easing inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SET finished barely higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and energy producers.

For the day, the index rose 0.49 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 1,541.79 after trading between 1,530.43 and 1,546.84. Volume was 22.715 billion shares worth 72.117 billion baht. There were

Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 0.36 percent, while Banpu tanked 2.40 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 2.91 percent, Bangkok Expressway skidded 1.15 percent, B. Grimm soared 4.29 percent, CP All Public spiked 2.90 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.95 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 2.22 percent, Gulf gained 0.54 percent, IRPC retreated 1.26 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.66 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.40 percent, PTT sank 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plummeted 4.60 percent, PTT Global Chemical lost 0.56 percent, SCG Packaging fell 0.46 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.50 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.08 percent, Thai Oil dropped 0.97 percent, TTB Bank declined 1.69 percent and Advanced Info, Asset World, Bangkok Bank, BTS Group, Kasikornbank, PTT Oil & Retail and True Corporation were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages hugged the unchanged line for most of Wednesday's trade before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow climbed 69.86 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 31,037.68, while the NASDAQ added 39.61 points or 0.35 percent to close at 11,361.85 and the S&P 500 rose 13.69 points or 0.36 percent to end at 3,845.08.

The late rally on Wall Street followed the release of the latest batch of minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which showed the central bank remains committed to bringing down inflation.

The minutes also said participants continued to anticipate that ongoing increases in the target range for the federal funds would be appropriate to achieve the monetary policy committee's objectives; another 50 or 75-basis point move is expected in the July meeting.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about outlook for energy demand due to a surge in Covid-19 cases in China and fears over a possible recession, while a strong greenback also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.97 or 1 percent at $98.53 a barrel.