The Thai stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than a dozen points or 1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,250-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an end to stimulus negotiations until after the election. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial shares.
For the day, the index gained 7.16 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 1,250.15 after trading between 1,249.14 and 1,257.46. Volume was 19.880 billion shares worth 56.520 billion baht. There were 778 gainers and 774 decliners, with 403 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info tumbled 1.44 percent, while Thailand Airport skidded 1.33 percent, Asset World shed 0.59 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.53 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical dropped 1.03 percent, Bangkok Expressway lost 0.58 percent, BTS Group tanked 2.55 percent, Kasikornbank sank 0.66 percent, Krung Thai Bank added 0.57 percent, PTT rallied 2.33 percent, PTT Exploration and Production skyrocketed 7.17 percent, PTT Global Chemical surged 5.73 percent, Siam Commercial Bank jumped 1.56 percent, Siam Concrete soared 2.97 percent, TMB Bank retreated 1.16 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks fluctuated Tuesday before heading firmly into the red following Trump's announcement.
The Dow tumbled 375.88 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 27,772.76, while the NASDAQ skidded 177.88 points or 1.57 percent to end at 11,154.60 and the S&P 500 dropped 47.66 points or 1.40 percent to close at 3,360.
The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came in the late afternoon when Trump tweeted: "I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business."
This came on the heels of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's warning that U.S. economic recovery remained far from complete and that more support was needed.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday and the front-month futures contract settled with strong gains for a second successive day as supply disruptions in Norway supported the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended up $1.45 or 3.7 percent at $40.67 a barrel.
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