The Thai stock market had tracked higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 40 points or 3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just shy of the 1,365-point plateau although its due for consolidation on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected following recent optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.
For the day, the index added 9.94 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 1,364.81 after trading between 1,351.33 and 1,366.76. Volume was 10.769 billion shares worth 47.366 billion baht. There were 306 gainers and 211 decliners, with 149 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info gained 0.40 percent, while Thailand Airport increased 1.67 percent, Asset World skyrocketed 9.47 percent, Banpu jumped 1.87 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.35 percent, Bangkok Expressway soared 4.61 percent, B. Grimm advanced 0.96 percent, BTS Group accelerated 3.77 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.81 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 4.64 percent, Gulf lost 0.50 percent, Kasikornbank climbed 1.05 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.53 percent, Krung Thai Card added 0.59 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 1.29 percent, PTT improved 0.72 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gathered 0.70 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 1.98 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 0.99 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 0.92 percent, Siam Concrete surged 4.74 percent, Thai Oil strengthened 1.44 percent, TTB Bank rallied 1.65 percent and True Corporation, CP All Public and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly headed south, eventually all ending under water.
The Dow dipped 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 41,175.08, while the NASDAQ sank 152.03 points or 0.85 percent to close at 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 lost 17.77 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,616.84.
The Dow found mild support from 3M Co. (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS). On the other hand, substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks weighed on the NASDAQ, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 2.5 percent.
Within the semiconductor sector, AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumped by 2.3 percent ahead of the release of its fiscal second quarter results on Wednesday.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in July.
The price of crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel.