Additional Support Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market ticked higher again on Monday, one session after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 35 points or 2.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,360-point plateau

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher ahead of Wednesday's FOMC policy announcement. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SET finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the food, finance and industrial sectors were capped by weakness from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 2.03 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,361.97 after trading between 1,355.36 and 1,364.70. Volume was 13.332 billion shares worth 36.442 billion baht. There were 297 gainers and 186 decliners, with 172 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.03 percent, while Thailand Airport perked 0.39 percent, Asset World advanced 0.91 percent, Banpu surged 2.83 percent, Bangkok Bank rose 0.37 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 0.86 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 1,23 percent, BTS Group accelerated 1.60 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods spiked 2.15 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.39 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.61 percent, Krung Thai Card jumped 1.75 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 1.10 percent, PTT Global Chemical improved 0.68 percent, SCG Packaging increased 0.78 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete gained 0.80 percent, True Corporation soared 2.61 percent, TTB Bank strengthened 1.68 percent and B. Grimm, Energy Absolute, Gulf, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, Thai Oil and CP All Public were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher on Monday and stayed mostly in the green, ending slightly higher.

The Dow jumped 146.43 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 38,386.09, while the NASDAQ advanced 55.18 points or 0.35 percent to close at 15,983.08 and the S&P 500 added 16.21 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,116.17.

The modestly higher close on Wall Street came as stocks continue to benefit from the upward momentum seen last week, which came amid a positive reaction to upbeat tech earnings.

Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

Oil futures settled lower on Monday amid worries about growth and outlook for oil demand and the rising possibility of the Federal Reserve delaying interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down by $1.22 or 1.45 percent at $82.63 a barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will provide March figures for industrial production and current account later today; in February, industrial production was down 2.84 percent on year and the current account surplus was $2 billion.