Higher Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Monday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped almost 10 points or 0.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and it's got a positive lead again for Tuesday's trade. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with technology and oil stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are also likely to open to the upside.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index gained 10.15 point or 0.70 percent to finish at 1,452.78 after trading between 1,442.16 and 1,456.57. Volume was 12.960 billion shares worth 38.390 billion baht. There were 287 gainers and 238 decliners, with 146 stocks finishing unchanged. Among the actives, Thailand Airport added 2.53 percent, while Asset World rallied 4.71 percent, Banpu advanced 0.89 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.68 percent, Bangkok Expressway slid 0.65 percent, B. Grimm increased 0.99 percent, CP All Public shed 0.78 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.41 percent, Gulf accelerated 2.05 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.02 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.49 percent, PTT Oil & Retail strengthened 2.82 percent, PTT sank 0.77 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 3.73 percent, SCG Packaging spiked 2.97 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rose 0.44 percent, Siam Concrete surged 3.48 percent, Thai Oil gained 1.88 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.84 percent, TTB Bank improved 1.14 percent and Krung Thai Card, Advanced Info, Energy Absolute, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the line on Monday and maintained a fairly narrow trading range before ending mixed.

The Dow shed 55.39 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 43,389.60, while the NASDAQ climbed 111.69 points or 0.60 percent to close at 18,791.81 and the S&P 500 added 23.00 points or 0.39 percent to end at 5,893.62.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders look to pick up stocks at reduced levels following last week's steep drop amid concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Home Builders said homebuilder confidence has improved much more than anticipated in November, hitting its highest level since April.

Oil prices climbed higher on Monday on concerns about likely shortage in supplies due to an escalation in Russia - Ukraine war, while a weaker dollar also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed higher by $2.14 or 3.2 percent at 69.16 a barrel.