Thai Stock Market Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 40 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,645-point plateau although investors are likely to cash in on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board, especially among the financials and energy producers.

For the day, the index improved 16.36 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 1,643.16 after trading between 1,631.14 and 1,645.76. Volume was 11.293 billion shares worth 53.260 billion baht. There were 1,092 gainers and 370 decliners, with 456 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 0.78 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 2.37 percent, Asset World soared 3.31 percent, Banpu sank 0.74 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.69 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway strengthened 1.55 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.63 percent, BTS Group increased 1.20 percent, CP All Public spiked 2.65 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods rose 0.41 percent, Energy Absolute jumped 2.13 percent, Gulf gained 0.93 percent, IRPC rallied 2.03 percent, Kasikornbank added 0.69 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.56 percent, Krung Thai Card increased 0.42 percent, PTT Oil & Retail climbed 1.73 percent, PTT perked 0.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.57 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 3.85 percent, SCG Packaging jumped 1.80 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.96 percent, Siam Concrete strengthened 1.49 percent, Thai Oil climbed 0.90 percent, True Corporation rose 0.84 percent and TTB Bank gathered 0.74 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday, with only the Dow managing to break barely into positive territory.

The Dow rose 37.63 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 33,241.56, while the NASDAQ tumbled 144.64 points or 1.38 percent to end at 10,353.23 and the S&P 500 sank 15.57 points or 0.40 percent to close at 3,829.25.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected lingering concerns about the economic outlook following recent indications the Federal Reserve plans to continuing raising interest rates.

The markets got a lift when treasuries moved sharply lower, extending the downward trend seen over the past several sessions.

Bond prices came under pressure in early trading and saw further downside as the day progressed. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.9 basis points to 3.860 percent.

Crude oil prices pared gains and settled roughly flat on Tuesday after refineries in the Gulf Coast restarted after a temporary closure. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled flat at $79.53 a barrel.