The Thai stock market has finished higher in seven straight sessions, collecting more than 50 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just above the 1,670-point plateau although the rally may finally stall on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over world trade, plus a deep drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished barely higher as gains from the financial shares were offset by weakness from the energy producers.
For the day, the index added 0.70 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 1,671.11 after trading between 1,665.02 and 1,672.50. Volume was 12.866 billion shares worth 44.224 billion baht. There were 801 decliners and 550 gainers, with 463 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.77 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.38 percent, Bangkok Bank shed 0.50 percent, Bangkok Expressway plummeted 5.00 percent, BTS Group sank 0.85 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.88 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.26 percent, PTT skidded 1.05 percent, PTT Exploration and Production lost 0.39 percent, PTT Global Chemical tumbled 1.19 percent, Siam Commercial Bank spiked 1.52 percent and TMB Bank, Siam Concrete, Krung Thai Bank, Banpu and Bangkok Medical all were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Wednesday before ending slightly lower, extending losses from the previous session.
The Dow shed 43.68 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 26,004.83, while the NASDAQ lost 29.85 points or 0.38 percent to 7,792.72 and the S&P 500 fell 5.88 points or 0.20 percent to 2,879.84.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders weighed lingering trade concerns against optimism about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
The U.S.-China trade conflict has moved back into the spotlight ahead of the G20 summit later this month - however, a report showing tame inflation has further fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the near future.
Crude oil futures plunged sharply on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration showed a jump in U.S. crude stockpiles for a second straight week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down $2.13 or 4 percent at $51.14 a barrel, the lowest settlement price since mid-January.
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