The Thai stock market on Monday ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped almost a dozen points or 0.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits just beneath the 1,390-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests little movement, with many countries still off for the Lunar New Year holiday. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the finance, service and technology sectors were offset by weakness from the food, industrial and resource companies.
For the day, the index added 0.93 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 1,389.30 after trading between 1,386.28 and 1,392.47. Volume was 7.388 billion shares worth 25.076 billion baht. There were 226 decliners and 223 gainers, with 202 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.47 percent, while Thailand Airport rallied 1.16 percent, Asset World skidded 0.99 percent, Banpu plummeted 4.10 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.71 percent, B. Grimm spiked 1.75 percent, CP All Public declined 0.92 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods tumbled 2.15 percent, Gulf fell 0.57 percent, Kasikornbank strengthened 1.26 percent, Krung Thai Card shed 0.57 percent, PTT slid 0.71 percent, PTT Exploration and Production slumped 0.65 percent, PTT Global Chemical sank 0.70 percent, SCG Packaging dropped 0.79 percent, Siam Commercial Bank advanced 0.97 percent, Siam Concrete climbed 1.14 percent, Thai Oil retreated 1.77 percent, True Corporation lost 0.78 percent, TTB Bank jumped 1.66 percent and Krung Thai Bank, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway and BTS Group were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat, quickly moved higher but then faded, with only the Dow holding its gains and hitting a fresh record close.
The Dow gained 125.69 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 38,797.38, while the NASDAQ sank 48.12 points or 0.30 percent to close at 15,942.54 and the S&P 500 eased 4.77 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,021.84.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather following recent strength, which has lifted the S&P 500 above 5,000 for the first time. The NASDAQ has also shown a significant advance in recent sessions, closing in on the record highs set in November 2021.
A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports in the coming days. Later today, the Labor Department is due to release its report on consumer price inflation for January, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
Treasuries fluctuated on Monday before eventually ending the day modestly higher. After an early move to the upside, bond prices gave back ground but rebounded in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, eased 1.5 basis points to 4.172 percent.
Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Monday as demand concerns outweighed potential supply disruptions. The dollar's recovery from lower levels also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $76.92 a barrel, up $0.08 from the previous close.
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