The Thai stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 60 points or 4.1 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,480-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests mild upside on optimism over the arrival of the first rounds of vaccine to treat the coronavirus. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses figure to split the difference.
The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board - especially from the financials and energy producers.
For the day, the index surged 29.09 points or 2.01 percent to finish at 1,478.92 after trading between 1,442.65 and 1,484.73. Volume was 34.084 billion shares worth 123.462 billion baht. There were 1,036 gainers and 753 decliners, with 393 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info jumped 1.93 percent, while Thailand Airport gathered 1.89 percent, Asset World surged 5.21 percent, Bangkok Bank rallied 2.81 percent, Bangkok Expressway rose 0.56 percent, BTS Group gained 1.96 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods improved 1.77 percent, Gulf added 0.71 percent, IRPC skyrocketed 7.59 percent, Kasikornbank soared 5.58 percent, Krung Thai Bank collected 1.77 percent, Minor International spiked 6.67 percent, PTT perked 0.58 percent, PTT Exploration and Production accelerated 2.96 percent, PTT Global Chemical increased 2.12 percent, Siam Commercial Bank climbed 0.56 percent, Siam Concrete advanced 3.65 percent, TMB Bank was up 6.90 percent and Bangkok Dusit Medical was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as stocks opened in the red Tuesday but gradually ticked higher and finished in positive territory.
The Dow added 104.09 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 30,173.88, while the NASDAQ gained 62.83 points or 0.50 percent to end at 12,582.77 and the S&P 500 rose 10.29 points or 0.28 percent to close at 3,702.25.
The lower open on Wall Street was caused by concerns about surging coronavirus cases and fears of tighter lockdown restrictions in several places across the world - but news that the U.K. has begun administering the vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech helped in limiting the markets' slide and helped turn them higher.
The continued surge in coronavirus cases and increasing number of hospitalizations in the U.S. boosted hopes for a U.S. pandemic stimulus. Congress is expected to vote this week on a one-week stopgap funding bill to give negotiators more time to strike a compromise.
Oil futures settled lower on Tuesday amid worries about energy demand outlook after data showed OPEC oil production climbed to a six-month high in November. West Texas Intermediate crude for January ended lower by $0.16 or 0.4 percent at $45.60 a barrel.
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