Thai Shares Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had climbed almost 20 points or 1.6 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,300-point plateau although it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates, and on support from technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mostly up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the consumer, industrial and service sectors were offset by support from the food, finance and technology companies. For the day, the index eased 0.32 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 1,304.92 after trading between 1,303.48 and 1,314.07. Volume was 7.984 billion shares worth 37.346 billion baht. There were 289 decliners and 157 gainers, with 201 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Thailand Airport fell 0.59 percent, while Bangkok Bank climbed 1.01 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical surrendered 1.48 percent, Bangkok Expressway plummeted 4.67 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.39 percent, BTS Group skidded 1.30 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.75 percent, Energy Absolute slumped 1.24 percent, Kasikornbank advanced 0.90 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.81 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.57 percent, PTT Oil & Retail plunged 3.57 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.87 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.98 percent, SCG Packaging tanked 2.17 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 1.97 percent, Siam Concrete stumbled 2.24 percent, Thai Oil contracted 1.42 percent, True Corporation sank 0.91 percent and TTB Bank, Asset World, Advanced Info, Banpu, Gulf, PTT and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved generally higher through the day, although the Dow slipped back under water at the close.

The Dow eased 1.20 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 46,601.78. while the NASDAQ jumped 255.01 points or 1.12 percent to close at 23,043.38 and the S&P 500 gained 39.13 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,753.72.

The strength on Wall Street reflected a notable advance by shares of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA), which surged to a record high on reports of increased demand.

Stocks saw continued strength even after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September revealed participants expressed a range of views about the likely future path of monetary policy.

Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year, the Fed said, although some noted financial conditions warrant a cautious approach in the consideration of future policy changes.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday, extending gains from the past two sessions after OPEC said it would affect only a modest hike in production next month. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.89 or 1.44 percent at $62.62 per barrel.