The Thai stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, collecting more than 20 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,585-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed to lower, with rising bond yields offset by rising crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.
The SET finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the energy producers and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index added 9.03 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 1,583.89 after trading between 1,580.90 and 1,592.47. Volume was 27.796 billion shares worth 71.308 billion baht. There were 859 decliners and 711 gainers, with 527 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info fell 0.29 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.74 percent, Asset World advanced 0.97 percent, Bangkok Asset Management climbed 1.39 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.40 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical improved 0.94 percent, Bangkok Expressway jumped 1.74 percent, BTS Group spiked 3.17 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.83 percent, PTT perked 1.24 percent, PTT Exploration and Production gained 0.88 percent, PTT Global Chemical rose 0.79 percent, SCG Packaging skidded 1.06 percent, Siam Commercial Bank slid 0.45 percent, Siam Concrete was up 0.76 percent and TMB Bank, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Gulf, Kasikornbank and PTT Oil & Retail were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower on Monday and largely stayed that way, with only the Dow peeking into positive territory at the close.
The Dow added 98.49 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 33,171.37, while the NASDAQ sank 79.08 points or 0.60 percent to end at 13,059.65 and the S&P 500 eased 3.45 points or 0.09 percent to close at 3,971.09.
The soft start on Monday came amid profit taking after the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the previous session at new record closing highs.
Adding to the pessimism, the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note rose to over 1.70 percent, again fueling inflation concerns.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued ahead of the release of the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply disruptions - but news about freeing the container ship that had blocked the Suez canal helped limit oil's upside. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.59 or 1 percent at $61.56 a barrel.
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