Thai Stock Market May Add To Its Winnings

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,610-point plateau and it's got a strong lead again for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with strength expected from the technology and banking stocks. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index picked up 3.61 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,610.52 after trading between 1,602.43 and 1,615.29. Volume was 14.606 billion shares worth 44.540 billion baht. There were 754 decliners and 617 gainers, with 612 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.93 percent, while Bangkok Bank improved 0.97 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical gained 0.85 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.57 percent, B. Grimm slumped 0.61 percent, CP All Public fell 0.40 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.37 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.59 percent, Krung Thai Card lost 0.46 percent, PTT perked 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production spiked 2.33 percent, PTT Global Chemical slipped 0.53 percent, SCG Packaging declined 0.52 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.98 percent, Siam Concrete gathered 0.31 percent, Thai Oil dropped 0.93 percent, True Corporation retreated 1.16 percent and TTB Bank, Banpu, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Asset World, Energy Absolute, Gulf, PTT Oil & Retail, Thailand Airport and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened sharply higher and stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 323.35 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 32,717.60, while the NASDAQ surged 210.16 points or 1.79 percent to end at 11,926.24 and the S&P 500 spiked 56.54 points or 1.42 percent to end at 4,027.81.

The rally on Wall Street reflected a rebound by technology stocks, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ recovering from the pullback seen early in the week to hit its best closing level in over a month.

Semiconductor stocks led the recovery in the tech sector, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 3.3 percent. Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

The markets also benefited from a continued easing of concerns about contagion from the recent turmoil in the banking sector.

Oil futures failed to hold early gains and ended modestly lower on Wednesday, despite data showing a drop in crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May faded $0.23 or 0.3 percent at $72.97 a barrel, coming off a high of $74.37 a barrel.