Win Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 30 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,320-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

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 advanced 12.77 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 1,320.86 after trading between 1,311.93 and 1,322.08. Volume was 7.873 billion shares worth 42.722 billion baht. There were 283 gainers and 209 decliners, with 155 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info jumped 1.84 percent, while Thailand Airport dropped 0.88 percent, Asset World skidded 1.09 percent, Banpu rose 0.40 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.74 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical gained 0.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.65 percent, BTS Group lost 0.92 percent, CP All Public skyrocketed 3.56 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods accelerated 2.13 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 8.16 percent, Gulf slumped 1.04 percent, Kasikornbank fell 0.38 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.12 percent, Krung Thai Card retreated 1.27 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 1.28 percent, PTT improved 0.79 percent, PTT Exploration and Production soared 3.52 percent, PTT Global Chemical advanced 0.93 percent, Siam Concrete strengthened 1.38 percent, Starflex sank 0.57 percent, Thai Oil increased 2.02 percent, True Corporation surged 3.35 percent and TTB Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, SCG Packaging and B. Grimm were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow gained 99.46 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 40,842.79, while the NASDAQ surged 451.98 points or 2.64 percent to end at 17,599.40 and the S&P 500 rallied 85.86 points or 1.58 percent to close at 5,522.30.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the latest corporate earnings news from companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Starbucks (SBUX) and DuPont (DD).

Stocks continued to see strength after the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. While the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as expected, minor changes to the accompanying statement may hint at future rate cuts.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in his post-meeting press conference that a rate cut in September would be "on the table" if economic data continues on its current path.

Oil prices rose sharply Wednesday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions due to rising tensions in the Middle East, and on data showing a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $3.18 or 4.3 percent at $77.91 a barrel.