Thai Shares May Crack 1,600 Points On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, improving more than 25 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,590-point plateau and it's got a positive lead again for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive on easing oil prices and optimism for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were mostly higher and the Asian markets are also tipped to move to the upside.

The SET finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial, industrial, resource and service sectors.

For the day, the index gained 6.73 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 1,594.79 after trading between 1,586.20 and 1,607.25. Volume was 13.707 billion shares worth 89.75 billion baht. There were 264 decliners and 219 gainers, with 176 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.10 percent, while Thailand Airport surged 4.00 percent, Asset World and TTB Bank both tumbled 1.72 percent, Banpu dropped 0.87 percent, Bangkok Bank lost 0.57 percent, B. Grimm and Krung Thai Bank both collected 0.71 percent, CP All Public contracted 1.60 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.53 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 1.70 percent, Gulf soared 4.26 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.49 percent, Krung Thai Card tanked 2.44 percent, PTT Oil & Retail declined 0.80 percent, PTT gained 0.68 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.70 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.72 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.00 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 2.55 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.31 percent, Thai Oil rose 0.54 percent, True Corporation sank 0.71 percent and Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and then tracked steadily higher throughout the day but still ended on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow soared 874.86 points or 1.73 percent to finish at a record 51,561.93, while the NASDAQ dipped 23.02 points or 0.09 percent to close at 26,830.96 and the S&P 500 added 30.63 points or 0.41 percent to end at 7,584.31.

The rebound by the Dow reflected a spike by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) following an upgrade by Bank of America. Dow components American Express (AXP), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Merck (MRK) also posted strong gains.

The NASDAQ climbed well off its worst levels but still ended the day modestly lower amid weakness among technology stocks.

A steep drop by shares of Broadcom (AVGO) weighed on the tech sector, despite fiscal Q2 earnings that exceeded estimates although the company failed to raise its full-year forecast of $100 billion in AI chip sales.

Crude oil prices plunged on Wednesday on hopes of de-escalation in the Middle East following an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire announcement. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $3.00 or 3.12 percent at $93.02 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release May data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.9 percent on year for overall inflation and 0.9 percent for core CPI. In April, overall inflation was up 2.89 percent on year and core CPI rose 0.83 percent.