Higher Open Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 35 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,465-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, supported by technology and oil stocks. The European and US. Markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index improved 6.99 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 1,466.67 after trading between 1,456.90 and 1,470.83. Volume was 10.371 billion shares worth 67.651 billion baht. There were 369 gainers and 131 decliners, with 177 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.51 percent, while Thailand Airport climbed 0.89 percent, Asset World spiked 3.10 percent, Banpu increased 0.85 percent, Bangkok Bank rose 0.30 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical lost 0.46 percent, B. Grimm vaulted 1.31 percent, BTS Group jumped 2.36 percent, CP All Public accelerated 2.96 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods and PTT both strengthened 1.40 percent, Gulf tumbled 2.45 percent, Kasikornbank added 0.49 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.55 percent, Krung Thai Card improved 0.74 percent, PTT Oil & Retail rallied 2.11 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.91 percent, SCG Packaging advanced 0.98 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gained 0.68 percent, Thai Oil retreated 1.46 percent, True Corporation stumbled 2.14 percent, TTB Bank soared 4.76 percent and Siam Concrete, Energy Absolute, PTT Exploration and Production and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday, slumped later in the day but still moved solidly back to the upside by the close.

The Dow gained 129.47 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 49,662.66, while the NASDAQ jumped 175.25 points or 0.78 percent to close at 22,753.63 and the S&P 500 added 38.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,881.31.

The early strength on Wall Street came as shares of Nvidia (NVDA) surged after the AI chipmaker announced a multi-year, multi-generational strategic partnership with Facebook parent Meta (META) spanning on-premises, cloud and AI infrastructure.

Positive sentiment was also generated some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Federal Reserve report showing industrial production increased more than expected in January.

However, stocks pulled back off their highs after the release of the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting, which said officials remain divided on the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday after reports that Iran failed to address core U.S. demands in nuclear talks earlier this week. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery soared $2.73 or 4.4 percent to $64.99 a barrel.