Win Streak May Continue For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai Stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, rallying more than 55 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,540-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology stocks expected to pull the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index jumped 21.86 points or 1.44 percent to finish at 1,539.12 after trading between 1,514.56 and 1,540.07. Volume was 11.197 billion shares worth 75.021 billion baht. There were 319 gainers and 169 decliners, with 170 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info vaulted 2.25 percent, while Thailand Airport picked up 2.90 percent, Asset World soared 3.81 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.61 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was up 1.65 percent, Bangkok Expressway gathered 1.89 percent, B. Grimm advanced 1.50 percent, CP All Public skyrocketed 6.86 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 2.13 percent, Energy Absolute rose 0.76 percent, Gulf gained 2.12 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.03 percent, Krung Thai Bank spiked 3.05 percent, Krung Thai Card increased 0.85 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 1.60 percent, PTT perked 0.68 percent, PTT Global Chemical expanded 1.28 percent, SCG Packaging accelerated 3.66 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 1.14 percent, Thai Oil surged 2.20 percent, True Corporation elevated 1.37 percent, TTB Bank strengthened 1.79 percent and Siam Concrete, Banpu, PTT Exploration and Production and BTS Group were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 370.26 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 50,063.46, while the NASDAQ rallied 232.88 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 26,635.22 and the S&P 500 gained 56.99 points or 0.77 percent to close at 7,501.24, also a record.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) helped lead the markets higher after the company reported better than expected fiscal third quarter results and provided upbeat guidance.

Market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) also surged on reports that the U.S. has cleared around 10 Chinese firms to buy the company's second-most powerful AI chip, the H200.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in April. Also, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut amid a lack of progress in U.S.-Iran peace efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $0.29 or 0.29 percent at $101.31 per barrel.