Thai Stock Market May Crack 1,300-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 15 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,280-point plateau and it's looking at a green light again for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the green and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the resource and technology stocks were offset by weakness from the industrial, property and service sectors.

For the day, the index rose 0.14 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,284.11 after trading between 1,281.16 and 1,298.72. Volume was 8.724 billion shares worth 53.183 billion baht. There were 319 decliners and 175 gainers, with 173 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info skyrocketed 7.04 percent, while Thailand Airport slid 0.46 percent, Banpu tanked 2.15 percent, Bangkok Bank slumped 0.98 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical weakened 1.31 percent, Bangkok Expressway surrendered 2.26 percent, B. Grimm and True Corporation both lost 0.79 percent, BTS Group was down 0.81 percent, CP All Public stumbled 1.97 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.96 percent, Energy Absolute plunged 3.88 percent, Gulf rallied 2.21 percent, Kasikornbank tumbled 1.90 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.49 percent, PTT Oil & Retail surged 7.02 percent, PTT declined 0.82 percent, PTT Global Chemical plummeted 5.58 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.80 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.70 percent, Thai Oil fell 0.41 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.52 percent and Krung Thai Bank, SCG Packaging, Asset World and PTT Exploration and Production were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but only continued to strengthen as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 342.87 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,711.43, while the NASDAQ surged 295.69 points or 1.50 percent to close at 19,945.64 and the S&P 500 rallied 63.10 points or 1.04 percent to end at 6,115.07.

The rally on Wall Street came after the Labor Department released its report on producer price inflation in January. While the headline number rose by more than expected, components of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading were relatively tame.

The data helped to ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates after Wednesday's consumer price numbers came in hitter than expected.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected last week.