Thai Bourse May Break Through 1,300-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 30 points or 2.4 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,295-point plateau and it may see further upside on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the consumption, finance, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index added 6.12 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 1,294.70 after trading between 1,286.79 and 1,296.13. Volume was 12.151 billion shares worth 27.632 billion baht. There were 246 gainers and 190 decliners, with 218 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info and Siam Commercial Bank both added 0.48 percent, while Thailand Airport advanced 0.90 percent, Asset World lost 0.57 percent, Banpu dropped 0.83 percent, Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.52 percent, Bangkok Expressway was up 0.65 percent, CP All Public rose 0.45 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.42 percent, Energy Absolute surged 2.52 percent, Gulf improved 1.26 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.20 percent, Krung Thai Bank soared 2.35 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.86 percent, PTT Oil & Retail gained 0.63 percent, PTT perked 0.77 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.64 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.75 percent, Thai Oil rallied 1.83 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.58 percent and Siam Concrete, True Corporation, B. Grimm, PTT Exploration and Production, Bangkok Dusit Medical and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for the first half of the day before diverging to finish mixed.

The Dow dipped 23.90 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 39,308.00, while the NASDAQ gained 159.54 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 18,188.30 and the S&P 500 added 28.01 points or 0.51 percent to close at 5,537.02 - also a record.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of weaker than expected economic data.

The Institute for Supply Management showed an unexpected contraction by U.S. service sector activity in June. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

However, overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued and treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the weaker than expected data. The markets closed earlier than usual and remain closed for the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also lent support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $1.07 at $83.88 a barrel.