Win Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, gathering almost 15 points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,455-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The ST finished modestly higher again on Wednesday as gains from the resource and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the industrial and finance shares.

For the day, the index gained 4.17 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 1,456.97 after trading between 1,453.33 and 1,460.33. Volume was 15.492 billion shares worth 49.383 billion baht. There were 270 decliners and 216 gainers, with 177 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.75 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.78 percent, Asset World improved 1.09 percent, Banpu tanked 2.88 percent, Bangkok Bank fell 0.32 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical advanced 0.84 percent, B. Grimm rallied 1.75 percent, BTS Group shed 0.88 percent, CP All Public rose 0.38 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods slumped 1.20 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 1.71 percent, Gulf skyrocketed 5.56 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 0.48 percent, PTT Oil & Retail skidded 1.18 percent, PTT sank 0.74 percent, PTT Exploration and Production declined 1.48 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.86 percent, SCG Packaging plummeted 5.83 percent, Siam Concrete shed 0.41 percent, Thai Oil stumbled 1.46 percent, True Corporation jumped 1.82 percent, TTB Bank climbed 1.07 percent and Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, Krung Thai Card and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday but tracked consistently higher as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 431.63 points or 1.03 percent to finish at a record 42,512.00, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.70 points or 0.60 percent to close at 18,291.62 and the S&P 500 rallied 40.91 points or 0.71 percent to also end at a record high 5,792.04.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting, which showed that most members favored the larger rate cut rather than a smaller one, generating optimism for future cuts.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit shrank to $70.4 billion in August from a revised $78.9 billion in July. Economists had expected the trade deficit to decrease to $70.6 billion from the $78.8 billion originally reported for the previous month.

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday after data showed a big jump in crude inventories which outweighed possible supply disruptions due to Hurricane Milton and Middle East tensions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November fell $0.33 or 0.45 percent at $73.24 a barrel.