The Thai stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering almost 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,450-point plateau and its tipped to open in the green again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, fueled by support from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished barely higher on Tuesday as gains from the consumer, finance, industrial and service sectors were offset by weakness from the resource and technology companies.
For the day, the index added 0.60 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,452.80 after trading between 1,447.35 and 1,459.64. Volume was 18.247 billion shares worth 54.780 billion baht. There were 259 gainers and 207 decliners, with 195 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.37 percent, while Thailand Airport increased 0.78 percent, Asset World added 0.55 percent, Banpu improved 0.72 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.63 percent, Bangkok Expressway declined 1.21 percent, BTS Group was up 0.44 percent, CP All Public rose 0.38 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.57 percent, Gulf stumbled 1.68 percent, Kasikornbank rallied 1.33 percent, Krung Thai Bank advanced 0.97 percent, PTT and PTT Exploration and Production both slumped 0.74 percent, SCG Packaging spiked 1.69 percent, Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete retreated 1.22 percent, Thai Oil slid 0.49 percent, True Corporation dropped 0.90 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.53 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods, Krung Thai Card, PTT Global Chemical, B. Grimm, PTT Oil & Retail and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed but quickly moved up into positive territory and stayed that way.
The Dow jumped 126.13 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 42,080.37, while the NASDAQ rallied 259.01 points or 1.45 percent to end at 18,182.92 and the S&P 500 advanced 55.19 points or 0.97 percent to close at 5,751.13.
The strength on Wall Street came as traders went shopping for bargains, especially among the technology companies.
In economic news, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $70.4 billion in August 2024, the lowest in five months, from an upwardly revised $78.9 billion in July. Exports increased 2 percent to a record high of $271.8 billion, while imports dropped 0.9 percent to $342.2 billion.
Data on U.S. consumer price and producer price inflation are due later in the week.
Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as supply disruptions concerns eased a bit on reports Israel is unlikely to attack Iranian oil facilities. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November sank $3.57 or 4.63 percent at $73.57 a barrel.