Thai Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Thursday's holiday for Chulalongkorn, the Thai stock market had finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 30 points or 2.2 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,300-point plateau and it's called higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 11.63 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 1,302.35 after trading between 1,287.29 and 1,311.24. Volume was 8.774 billion shares worth 51.176 billion baht. There were 241 gainers and 200 decliners, with 213 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info rallied 1.34 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.63 percent, Asset World and BTS Group both accelerated 2.80 percent, Bangkok Bank spiked 2.57 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical gathered 0.50 percent, Bangkok Expressway gained 0.99 percent, B. Grimm expanded 1.94 percent, CP All Public rose 0.53 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.92 percent, Gulf increased 1.12 percent, Kasikornbank collected 1.69 percent, Krung Thai Bank soared 3.88 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.84 percent, PTT Oil & Retail sank 0.72 percent, PTT added 0.81 percent, PTT Exploration and Production vaulted 1.89 percent, PTT Global Chemical strengthened 1.27 percent, SCG Packaging climbed 1.11 percent, Siam Commercial Bank fell 0.37 percent, Thai Oil surged 3.60 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.80 percent and TTB Bank, Siam Concrete, Banpu and Energy Absolute were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.