Thai Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,625-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished slightly higher on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the energy producers.

For the day, the index picked up 2.78 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 1,625.91 after trading between 1,621.41 and 1,633.07. Volume was 12.698 billion shares worth 55.073 billion baht. There were 1,037 decliners and 471 gainers, with 570 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.27 percent, while Thailand Airport climbed 1.02 percent, Asset World improved 0.81 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.40 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.88 percent, B. Grimm added 0.66 percent, BTS Group gained 0.60 percent, CP All Public gathered 1.16 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods increased 0.85 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.77 percent, Gulf skidded 0.93 percent, IRPC shed 0.67 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.35 percent, Krung Thai Bank perked 0.57 percent, Krung Thai Card rose 0.42 percent, PTT Oil & Retail fell 0.41 percent, PTT Exploration and Production spiked 2.04 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 1.09 percent, SCG Packaging slumped 0.43 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 0.90 percent, True Corporation soared 2.17 percent and TTB Bank, Banpu, Bangkok Expressway, PTT, Siam Commercial Bank and Thai Oil were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday, faded as the day progressed but still finished in the green.

The Dow climbed 103.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,108.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 113.08 points or 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,019.65.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in November.

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant beats ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, with traders likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week, while a weak dollar also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or 3 percent at $75.39 a barrel.