The Thai stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 45 points or 3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just above the 1,535-point plateau although it's likely to run out of steam on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the largely overbought Asian is negative, with profit taking expected to limit any upside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SET finished barely higher on Monday following a mixed performance from the energy producers and weakness from the financial sector.
For the day, the index rose 0.05 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 1,536.49 after trading between 1,527.75 and 1,550.75. Volume was 26.455 billion shares worth 93.806 billion baht. There were 936 decliners and 572 gainers, with 385 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info skidded 1.36 percent, while Thailand Airport tanked 2.68 percent, Asset World shed 0.42 percent, Bangkok Asset Management lost 0.47 percent, Bangkok Bank dropped 0.80 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical tumbled 1.84 percent, Bangkok Expressway retreated 2.34 percent, BTS Group plunged 2.97 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 2.38 percent, Gulf sank 1.35 percent, Kasikornbank declined 1.23 percent, Krung Thai Bank surrendered 1.56 percent, PTT perked 0.58 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.96 percent, PTT Global Chemical added 0.40 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.55 percent, Siam Concrete eased 0.26 percent, TMB Bank plummeted 2.48 percent, VGI jumped 2.10 percent and Charoen Pokphand Foods was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened in the red on Monday, made back a bit of ground but still ended firmly in the red.
The Dow skidded 89.28 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 31,008.69, while the NASDAQ tumbled 165.54 points or 1.25 percent to end at 13,036.43 and the S&P 500 lost 25.07 points or 0.66 percent to close at 3,799.61.
Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street after the major averages climbed to new record closing highs last Friday as traders cashed in on recent gains.
Concerns about developments in Washington also weighed on stocks as Democrats prepare another attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office. House Democrats are preparing to once again impeach Trump even though the president has less than two weeks left in his term.
Crude oil futures settled flat on Monday as rising coronavirus cases and tighter lockdown measures across the world raised concerns about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $52.25 a barrel, up 1 cent from the previous close.
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