Thai Stock Market May Test Resistance At 1,300 Points

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market ticked higher again on Monday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 15 points or 1.2 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,290-point plateau and it may inch higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with support from technology shares likely offset by weakness from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the food, finance, industrial, property, resource and technology sectors.

For the day, the index added 9.33 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 1,288.07 after trading between 1,278.90 and 1,292.24. Volume was 7.224 billion shares worth 37.860 billion baht. There were 225 decliners and 205 gainers, with 209 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info advanced 1.03 percent, while Thailand Airport soared 1.27 percent, Asset World and PTT Exploration and Production both gained 0.85 percent, Banpu shed 0.43 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.68 percent, Bangkok Expressway rallied 1.96 percent, BTS Group surged 3.27 percent, CP All Public gathered 0.52 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods jumped 1.80 percent, Energy Absolute sank 0.57 percent, Gulf collected 1.15 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.20 percent, Krung Thai Bank climbed 1.00 percent, Krung Thai Card increased 0.83 percent, PTT rose 1.50 percent, PTT Global Chemical dropped 0.95 percent, SCG Packaging soared 3.16 percent, Siam Commercial Bank improved 1.18 percent, Siam Concrete vaulted 1.77 percent, Thai Oil slumped 1.36 percent, True Corporation expanded 0.95 percent, TTB Bank added 0.53 percent and B. Grimm, PTT Oil & Retail and Bangkok Dusit Medical were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but eventually managed to finish with modest gains.

The Dow added 68.78 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 46,316.07, while the NASDAQ gained 107.09 points or 0.48 percent to end at 22,591.15 and the S&P 500 rose 17.51 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,661.21 percent.

The upswing on Wall Street reflected strength among technology stocks, with AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) jumping 2.1 percent and video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) surging 4.5 percent.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves amid concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown ahead of a deadline later today.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday, which could impact the outlook for interest rates. But the data could be delayed if the government shuts down.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday in the wake of oversupply concerns thanks to OPEC's plans for increasing output. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.50 or 3.80 percent at $63.22 per barrel.

Closer to home, Thailand will release August data for imports, exports, trade balance, current account and industrial production later today. In July, imports were up 4.5 percent on year and exports rose an annual 9.7 percent for a trade surplus of $2.50 billion. The current account surplus was $2.20 billion, while industrial output sank 3.98 percent on year.