The Thai stock market on Tuesday halted the four-day slide in which it had plummeted more than 65 points or 5.3 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,210-point plateau and the political unrest is expected to lead to wide swings again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on renewed optimism for economic stimulus in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. 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 financial shares were offset by weakness from the energy producers.
For the day, the index rose 1.92 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 1,210.67 after trading between 1,202.03 and 1,219.16. Volume was 21.637 billion shares worth 59.284 billion baht. There were 808 decliners and 649 gainers, with 427 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info dropped 0.86 percent, while Thailand Airport climbed 1.40 percent, Asset World skidded 1.27 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical shed 0.55 percent, BTS Group added 0.56 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods retreated 0.96 percent, Kasikornbank spiked 3.53 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.19 percent, Minor International surged 3.37 percent, PTT lost 0.77 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.64 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.86 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gained 0.82 percent, Siam Concrete rallied 1.50 percent, TMB Bank sank 1.22 percent and Bangkok Expressway was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks opened higher on Tuesday, fell from afternoon highs but still ended solidly in the green - cutting into the previous session's losses.
The Dow climbed 113.37 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 28,308.79, while the NASDAQ added 37.61 points or 0.33 percent to end at 11,516.49 and the S&P 500 gained 16.20 points or 0.47 percent to close at 3,443.12.
The rebound on Wall Street comes amid renewed optimism about lawmakers in Washington reaching an agreement on a new stimulus bill as Democrats and Republicans work to narrow their differences.
Reports that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine could be available for emergency use in December if it gets positive results from its interim trial next month further aided sentiment.
Crude oil futures moved higher on Tuesday on expectations of a drop in U.S. crude inventories and that OPEC and its allies will scale back production. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended up $0.64 or 1.6 percent at $41.70 a barrel.
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