Thai Stock Market Seen Opening To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 15 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,400-point plateau and it's got a positive lead again for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher and is likely to be driven by earnings news. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financials, industrials, properties and resource stocks were offset by weakness among the food, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index rose 3.06 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 1,400.02 after trading between 1,394.02 and 1,402.65. Volume was 20.756 billion shares worth 45.608 billion baht. There were 238 gainers and 225 decliners, with 197 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Asset World spiked 1.96 percent, while Banpu accelerated 2.38 percent, Bangkok Bank improved 0.71 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical plunged 2.61 percent, Bangkok Expressway tumbled 1.97 percent, B. Grimm dropped 0.86 percent, BTS Group advanced 0.83 percent, CP All Public fell 0.45 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.53 percent, Energy Absolute added 0.61 percent, Gulf gained 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.23 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.62 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.71 percent, PTT rallied 2.19 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 0.33 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 2.92 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.09 percent, Thai Oil improved 0.45 percent, True Corporation surged 2.34 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.08 percent and SCG Packaging, Advanced Info, PTT Oil & Retail and Thailand Airport were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the day as the Dow and S&P both hit record closing highs.

The Dow climbed 156.00 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 38,677.36, while the NASDAQ rallied 147.65 points or 0.95 percent to end at 15,756.64 and the S&P 500 gained 40.83 points or 0.82 percent to close at 4,995.06.

The strength on Wall Street reflected recent upbeat economic data, which is still seen as a positive even though it reduces the chance of an interest rate cut next month.

Also supporting the markets were solid earnings news from the likes of solar inverter maker Enphase Energy (ENPH) and auto giant Ford (F).

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in December.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday after official data showed a notable drop in gasoline stockpiles last week in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.55 at $73.86 a barrel, gaining for a third straight session.