Thai Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has tracked higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than 20 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,360-point plateau and it may open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to fuel the rally. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the consumer, financial, resource and technology companies.

For the day, the index gained 9.24 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 1,361.77 after trading between 1,355.22 and 1,363.92. Volume was 7.839 billion shares worth 43.955 billion baht. There were 278 gainers and 194 decliners, with 199 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Connection Corporation skyrocketed 15.56 percent, while Advanced Info rose 0.35 percent, Thailand Airport gained 0.87 percent, Banpu advanced 0.97 percent, Bangkok Bank soared 3.30 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Gulf both improved 1.26 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 0.75 percent, B. Grimm tanked 2.53 percent, BTS Group jumped 1.72 percent, CP All Public surrendered 1.76 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.90 percent, Energy Absolute tumbled 1.95 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.63 percent, Krung Thai Bank surged 5.50 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.48 percent, PTT Exploration and Production increased 1.22 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.47 percent, SCG Packaging slumped 1.14 percent, Siam Commercial Bank strengthened 1.63 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.28 percent, Thai Oil stumbled 1.89 percent, True Corporation sank 0.84 percent, TTB Bank spiked 3.83 percent and Asset World, PTT Oil & Retail and PTT were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and spent all day in the green, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 130.92 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 44,156.73, while the NASDAQ surged 252.56 points or 1.28 percent to close at 20,009.34 and the S&P 500 added 37.13 points or 0.61 percent to end at 6,086.37.

The strength on Wall Street came as investors reacted positively to upbeat earnings updates and corporate news, and on continued optimism about rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was fueled by buoyant earnings and sales guidance by Netflix, as well as President Donald Trump's announcement of a $500 billion private-sector AI infrastructure investment plan involving Oracle, Open AI and Softbank.

Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday, extending recent weakness on concerns about excess supply in the market due to the Trump administration's plan to maximize oil and gas production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $75.44 a barrel, extending losses to a fifth straight session.

Closer to home, Thailand is scheduled to release December results for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In November, imports were up 0.9 percent and exports climbed 8.2 percent for a trade deficit of $220 million.