Thai Stock Market May Test Resistance At 1,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had given up more than 20 points or 1.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,380-point plateau and it's expected to add to its gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished sharply higher on Thursday with gains across the board, especially among the food, finance, industry, energy and technology sectors.

For the day, the index jumped 20.97 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 1,378.94 after trading between 1,366.73 and 1,380.88. Volume was 10.962 billion shares worth 40.907 billion baht. There were 402 gainers and 92 decliners, with 151 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Thailand Airport perked 1.27 percent, while Asset World gained 1.16 percent, Banpu rallied 1.59 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.67 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 0.62 percent, B. Grimm skyrocketed 4.90 percent, BTS Group picked up 1.41 percent, CP All Public rose 3.92 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods climbed 1.08 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 2.96 percent, Gulf increased 1.12 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.98 percent, Krung Thai Bank improved 1.09 percent, Krung Thai Card accelerated 2.82 percent, PTT Oil & Retail expanded 3.05 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 0.70 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 3.33 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 1.02 percent, Siam Concrete strengthened 1.74 percent, Thai Oil added 1.96 percent, True Corporation surged 3.96 percent, TTB Bank slumped 1.27 percent and SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, PTT and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, slumped midday but rebounded again to end in the green.

The Dow climbed 158.11 points or 0.43 percent to finish at a fresh record closing high of 37,248.35, while the NASDAQ gained 27.59 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,761.56 and the S&P 500 rose 12.46 points or 0.26 percent to end at 4,719.55.

Stocks continued to benefit from the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and signaled plans to cut interest rates three times next year.

Adding to optimism the economy is headed toward a soft landing, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in U.S. retail sales in November. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week.

Oil prices surged on Thursday for the second straight day, lifted by a weak dollar and an upward revision in global oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency. West Texas International Crude oil futures for January spiked $2.11 or 3 percent at $71.58 a barrel.