Thai Stock Market Has Firm Lead

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 30 points or 2.1 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,420-point plateau and it's expected to add to its winnings on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the food, property, energy and industrial sectors were offset by weakness from the financial and service shares.

For the day, the index rose 3.66 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,419.44 after trading between 1,409.55 and 1,419.86. Volume was 9.974 billion shares worth 37.425 billion baht. There were 269 gainers and 205 decliners, with 162 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.92 percent, while Asset World skyrocketed 4.40 percent, Banpu slumped 1.23 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.66 percent, B. Grimm jumped 1.90 percent, BTS Group plunged 2.04 percent, CP All Public stumbled 1.32 percent, Energy Absolute advanced 1.05 percent, Gulf gained 0.54 percent, Kasikornbank retreated 1.50 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.54 percent, Krung Thai Card climbed 1.09 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slid 0.50 percent, PTT improved 0.73 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 0.95 percent, SCG Packaging strengthened 1.33 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.51 percent, Siam Concrete sank 0.69 percent, Thai Oil soared 2.50 percent, True Corporation declined 1.64 percent, TTB Bank fell 0.64 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, PTT Global Chemical, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Thailand Airport and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened modestly higher on Monday but accelerated throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 203.76 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 35,151.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.05 points or 1.13 percent to close at 14,284.53 and the S&P 500 gained 33.36 points or 0.74 percent to end at 4,547.38.

The strength on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, which comes amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data showing signs of easing inflation has reinforced investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave rates unchanged at upcoming meetings.

Stocks saw further upside in afternoon trading as treasury yields pulled back following the release of the results of the Treasury Department's auction of $16 billion worth of 20-year bonds.

In economic news, the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid expectations that OPEC will further extend its voluntary output cuts next week, while the dollar's weakness also contributed to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $1.79 or 2.4 percent at $77.83 a barrel.