The Thai stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, collecting more than 25 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just shy of the 1,590-point plateau although it's expected to run out of steam on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian is mixed to lower on bond yield concerns and sliding oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were down and the Asian markets are tipped to split the difference.
The SET finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares and cement companies were capped by weakness from the energy producers.
For the day, the index rose 5.64 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 1,589.53 after trading between 1,585.06 and 1,593.52. Volume was 32.590 billion shares worth 107.224 billion baht. There were 963 decliners and 691 gainers, with 462 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Thailand Airport climbed 1.10 percent, while Asset World dropped 0.96 percent, Bangkok Asset Management sank 0.91 percent, BTS Group shed 0.51 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods advanced 0.85 percent, Gulf retreated 1.49 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.34 percent, Krung Thai Bank jumped 1.67 percent, PTT Oil & Retail lost 0.76 percent, PTT Exploration and Production fell 0.44 percent, PTT Global Chemical declined 0.79 percent, SCG Packaging added 0.53 percent, Siam Commercial Bank rallied 1.35 percent, Siam Concrete improved 1.01 percent, TMB Bank was up 0.83 percent and Advanced Info, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway and PTT were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened lower on Tuesday, regained some ground as the day progressed but still ended in the red.
The Dow dropped 104.41 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 33,066.96, while the NASDAQ fell 14.25 points or 0.11 percent to end at 13,045.39 and the S&P 500 slipped 12.54 points or 0.32 percent to close at 3,958.55.
The early weakness on Wall Street came as treasury yields extended the strong upward move seen on Monday, weighing on high-growth technology stocks.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note climbed to its highest level in over a year amid optimism about the coronavirus vaccine rollouts and the economy reopening as well as President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan.
In economic news, the Conference Board said consumer confidence skyrocketed more than expected in March, hitting its highest level in a year.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday after shipping traffic resumed through the Suez Canal. Traders were also weighing the impact of a surge in coronavirus cases and extended lockdown measures in Europe on near-term energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May fell $1.01 or 1.6 percent at $60.55 a barrel.
Closer to home, Thailand will see February figures for industrial production, current account and its coincident index later today, as well as January numbers for retail sales.
Industrial production is predicted to add 0.6 percent on year after sinking 2.8 percent in the previous month. In January, the current account deficit was $0.7 billion and the coincident had an index score of 126.5. In December, retail sales were down 0.38 percent on year.
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