Rally May Stall For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai Stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, adding almost 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,480-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on weakness among the tech shares and because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its effect on oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Tuesday following gains from the consumer, finance, industrial and resource sectors.

For the day, the index perked 1.07 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 1,480.20 after trading between 1,467.67 and 1,489.78. Volume was 9.393 billion shares worth 60.040 billion baht. There were 224 decliners and 221 gainers, with 213 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.29 percent, while Thailand Airport plunged 2.78 percent, Asset World tanked 2.83 percent, Bangkok Bank vaulted 1.25 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical shed 0.55 percent, B. Grimm retreated 1.56 percent, BTS Group rallied 0.96 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.53 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 2.24 percent, Gulf added 0.44 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.84 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.78 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.85 percent, PTT Oil & Retail stumbled 2.46 percent, PTT Exploration and Production climbed 1.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.04 percent, SCG Packaging skyrocketed 15.17 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.76 percent, Siam Concrete increased 0.89 percent, Thai Oil advanced 1.09 percent, True Corporation expanded 1.48 percent, TTB Bank strengthened 1.83 percent and Banpu, PTT, CP All Public and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but all quickly tracked to the downside and finished in the red.

The Dow shed 25.86 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 49,141.93, while the NASDAQ slumped 223.30 points or 0.90 percent to end at 24,663.80 and the S&P 500 sank 35.11 points or 0.49 percent to close at 7,138.80.

The NASDAQ pulled back well off Monday's record closing high as companies tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure came under pressure after reports said OpenAI recently missed its own targets for new users and revenue.

An extended surge by the price of crude oil also weighed on Wall Street, with U.S. crude oil futures spiking above $100 a barrel before giving ground.

Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran stalemate, although it gave ground later in the day following reports that Iran readied a revised peace plan. West Texas Intermediate crude for June month delivery was up $3.44 or 3.57 percent at $99.81 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Thailand is scheduled to wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.00 percent.