The Thai stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, jumping more than 30 points or 2.2 percent in that span. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,340-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft amid geopolitical concerns, although support from gold and oil figure to limit the downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the industrial, resource and service sectors were limited by weakness among the food, consumer and finance shares.
For the day, the index added 4.45 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 1,338.90 after trading between 1,331.70 and 1,344.87. Volume was 6.793 billion shares worth 44.733 billion baht. There were 243 decliners and 202 gainers, with 222 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info rose 0.28 percent, while Thailand Airport jumped 1.95 percent, Asset World tumbled 1.79 percent, Banpu advanced 0.91 percent, Bangkok Bank retreated 1.55 percent, Bangkok Expressway contracted 1.89 percent, B. Grimm improved 0.78 percent, BTS Group declined 0.88 percent, CP All Public collected 0.58 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods shed 0.48 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.73 percent, Gulf climbed 1.06 percent, Kasikornbank shed 0.52 percent, PTT Oil & Retail slumped 0.71 percent, PTT accelerated 2.21 percent, PTT Exploration and Production vaulted 2.89 percent, PTT Global Chemical spiked 2.97 percent, SCG Packaging stumbled 2.88 percent, Siam Commercial Bank skidded 1.09 percent, Siam Concrete added 0.47 percent, Thai Oil gained 0.59 percent, True Corporation increased 0.90 percent, TTB Bank lost 0.50 percent and Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is of little help as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but tailed off and hugged the line, finishing mixed and little changed.
The Dow rose 12.19 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 49,015.60, while the NASDAQ added 40.35 points or 0.17 percent to close at 23,857.45 and the S&P 500 dipped 0.57 points or 0.01 percent to end at 6,978.03.
The choppy trading on Wall Street continued after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
The Fed said the decision to keep rates steady came amid elevated uncertainty about the economic outlook. The central bank also said it remains attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the long run.
Despite the choppy trading by the broader markets, gold stocks moved sharply higher amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7 percent to a new record closing high.
Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday as Iran rejected any nuclear talks under threat even as a massive U.S. armada nears the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.85 or 1.36 percent at $63.24 per barrel.
Closer to home, Thailand will release December figures for industrial production later today; in November, production fell 4.24 percent on year.
Lower Open Called For Thai Stock Market
2026-01-29 02:02:15
