The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the four-day winning streak in which it had improved almost 35 points or 2.8 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,325-point plateau and it\'s expected to tick higher again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, fueled by technology shares ahead of key inflation data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the property, services, resource and technology sectors were capped by weakness from the food, finance and industrial companies.
For the day, the index rose 3.36 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 1,323.28 after trading between 1,318.72 and 1,327.16. Volume was 10.307 billion shares worth 34.265 billion baht. There were 235 gainers and 218 decliners, with 199 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info rallied 1.38 percent, while Thailand Airport spiked 1.75 percent, Banpu dropped 0.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway improved 1.32 percent, B. Grimm declined 1.37 percent, BTS Group slumped 1.81 percent, Gulf jumped 1.85 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.57 percent, Krung Thai Card collected 0.65 percent, PTT perked 0.76 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.33 percent, SCG Packaging retreated 1.61 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.47 percent, Siam Concrete rose 0.43 percent, Thai Oil sank 0.93 percent, True Corporation added 0.55 percent, TTB Bank skidded 1.11 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank, PTT Global Chemical, Asset World, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, CP All Public and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Wednesday but climbed steadily throughout the day, ending with strong gains near session highs.
The Dow surged 429.39 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 39,721.36, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.16 points or 1.18 percent to end at a record 18,647.45 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.02 percent to close at 5,633.91 - also a record.
The rally on Wall Street was due to strength among technology stocks, as reflected by the notable advance by the tech-heavy NASDAQ.
Stocks may also have benefitted from optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data later today.
During congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more good data would strengthen the central bank\'s confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.
Oil futures settled higher Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.69 at $82.10 a barrel.