Rebound Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday ended the nine-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 55 points or 3.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,410-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic as traders look to add window dressing ahead of the year's end. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the finance, industrial, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index dipped 3.02 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 1,410.43 after trading between 1,407.62 and 1,416.10. Volume was 10.147 billion shares worth 39.291 billion baht. There were 238 gainers and 200 decliners, with 210 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport rose 0.42 percent, while Asset World jumped 1.71 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.91 percent, Bangkok Expressway declined 0.63 percent, B. Grimm slumped 0.90 percent, CP All Public skidded 0.89 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.04 percent, Kasikornbank added 0.76 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.55 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.69 percent, PTT Oil & Retail tanked 2.05 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slid 0.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.65 percent, SCG Packaging fell 0.69 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.48 percent, Thai Oil gained 0.47 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.98 percent and TTB Bank, Siam Concrete, Advanced Info, Banpu, Energy Absolute, Gulf, PTT and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, slipped in and out of the red before finishing with modest gains.

The Dow climbed 111.19 points or 0.30 percent to finish at a record 37,656.52, while the NASDAQ added 24.60 points or 0.16 percent to close at 15,099.18 and the S&P 500 rose 6.83 points or 0.14 percent to end at 4,781.58.

The uptick by stocks came as treasury yields moved notably lower over the course of the session, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note falling to its lowest level in five months.

Treasury yields saw further downside after the Treasury Department revealed this month's auction of $58 billion worth of five-year notes attracted average demand.

The decrease in treasury yields has added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates, generating renewed buying interest on Wall Street.

Oil prices fell Wednesday on reports that shipping companies have resumed travel via the Suez Canal and Red Sea again after a geopolitical pause. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February sank $1.46 or 1.9 percent at $74.11 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release November numbers for imports, exports, trade balance, current account and industrial production later today. In October, imports jumped 10.5 percent on year and exports rose 7.0 percent for a trade surplus of $1.30 billion. The current account showed a surplus of $0.700 billion, while industrial production sank an annual 4.29 percent.