Thai Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, advancing almost 25 points or 2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,275-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected after recent strength. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource, services and technology sectors.

For the day, the index jumped 19.88 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 1,276.57 after trading between 1,257.22 and 1,278.63. Volume was 7.268 billion shares worth 36.422 billion baht. There were 297 gainers and 154 decliners, with 201 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 1.95 percent, while Thailand Airport was up 2.30 percent, Asset World surged 4.17 percent, Banpu soared 4.89 percent, Bangkok Bank advanced 0.95 percent, Bangkok Expressway perked 1.80 percent, B. Grimm retreated 1.40 percent, BTS Group picked up 2.33 percent, CP All Public gathered 1.73 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.48 percent, Energy Absolute stumbled 2.96 percent, Kasikornbank expanded 1.34 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.91 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.83 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 2.96 percent, PTT added 1.63 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 1.41 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.51 percent, SCG Packaging rallied 1.92 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.38 percent, Siam Concrete vaulted 2.14 percent, Thai Oil skyrocketed 5.00 percent, True Corporation accelerated 2.78 percent and TTB Bank, Gulf and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 47,289.33, while the NASDAQ sank 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to close at 23,275.92 and the S&P 500 lost 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,812.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen in November.

The major averages had closed higher for five consecutive sessions last week, clawing their way back toward record highs.

Stocks had recently benefited from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. However, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. dollar came under pressure amid rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.75 or 1.28 percent at $59.30 per barrel.