The Thai stock market ticked higher again on Wednesday, one session after it had halted the three-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 25 points or 1.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,715-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with concerns over the outlook for interest rates offset by a surge in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and the energy producers.
For the day, the index added 2.65 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 1,713.13 after trading between 1,713.12 and 1,722.45. Volume was 10.390 billion shares worth 57.615 billion baht. There were 723 decliners and 652 gainers, with 403 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.28 percent, while Thailand Airport lost 0.42 percent, Banpu added 0.58 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.79 percent, Bangkok Medical fell 0.46 percent, Bangkok Expressway dropped 0.62 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.45 percent, Krung Thai Bank picked up 0.54 percent, PTT Exploration and Production advanced 0.54 percent, PTT Global Chemical perked 0.32 percent, Siam Commercial Bank gathered 0.67 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.64 percent and PTT and Charoen Pokphand Foods were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is inconclusive as stocks opened higher before fading later in the day to finish mixed - although the NASDAQ inched up to a new record closing high.
The NASDAQ added 4.88 points or 0.07 percent to 6,867.36, while the Dow shed 64.65 points or 0.27 percent to 23,526.18 and the S&P 500 eased 1.95 points or 0.08 percent to 2,597.08.
The choppy trading came as many traders looked to get a head start on Thursday's Thanksgiving Day holiday. Stocks continued to show a lack of direction following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes said many participants thought that another near-term increase in interest rates was likely to be warranted if incoming information left the medium-term outlook broadly unchanged.
In economic news, the Labor Department reported a pullback in initial jobless claims in the week ended November 18, while the Commerce Department saw a surprise drop in durable goods orders in October. Also, the University of Michigan noted a surprising gain in its consumer sentiment index for November.
Crude oil futures rose sharply Wednesday after data showed a large drawdown of 6 million barrels. January West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $1.19 or 2.1 percent to $58.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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