Thai Stock Market May See Continued Support On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 45 points or 3.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,265-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over earnings, with tech shares likely to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index jumped 17.51 points or 1.40 percent to finish at 1,264.47 after trading between 1,248.09 and 1,266.52. Volume was 11.201 billion shares worth 65.232 billion baht. There were 390 gainers and 104 decliners, with 161 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info perked 0.34 percent, while Thailand Airport tapped 0.92 percent, Asset World skyrocketed 8.57 percent, Banpu increased 2.64 percent, Bangkok Bank spiked 2.01 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was up 0.45 percent, Bangkok Expressway picked up 2.26 percent, B. Grimm advanced 2.61 percent, BTS Group surged 2.26 percent, CP All Public expanded 1.62 percent, Energy Absolute gathered 0.69 percent, Gulf rose 0.53 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.52 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.32 percent, Krung Thai Card soared 3.54 percent, PTT sank 0.77 percent, PTT Exploration and Production added 0.82 percent, PTT Global Chemical accelerated 2.92 percent, SCG Packaging rallied 3.31 percent, Siam Commercial Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Siam Concrete improved 1.49 percent, Thai Oil gained 1.49 percent, True Corporation jumped 2.75 percent and TTB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but quickly turned higher and spent the balance of the session in the green.

The Dow improved 81.38 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 44,193.12, while the NASDAQ rallied 252.87 points or 1.21 percent to end at 21,169.42 and the S&P 500 gained 45.87 points or 0.73 percent to close at 6,345.06.

Apple (AAPL) helped to lead the markets higher following reports the company will announce plans to invest $100 billion to expand its U.S. operations and increase its total investment in the U.S. over the next four years to $600 billion.

Stocks also benefitted from strong earnings news from companies like McDonald's (MCD), which reported second quarter results that exceeded estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Shopify (SHOP) also beat the street.

On the other hand, Super Micro Computer (SMCI), social media platform Snap (SNAP) and Disney (DIS) reported mixed third quarter results.

Crude oil lost early gains on Wednesday as Russia faces a threat of U.S. sanctions on its oil exports after August 8 if it fails to end its attempt to annex Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.96 or 1.47 percent at $64.20 per barrel.