FX.co ★ Mild Upside Seen For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market arrested a two-day decline on Wednesday, having earlier lost more than 25 points or 1.7 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now sits slightly above the 1,380-point mark and is predicted to rise again on Thursday.

Internationally, forecasts for the Asian markets are mixed but generally predicted to increase, subject to earnings reports. European markets showed growth whereas U.S. markets exhibited mixed results, which will likely result in varied outcomes for the Asian markets.

On Wednesday, the SET saw a significant increase with gains made throughout different sectors such as food, finance, industry, property, resources, services and technology.

On the day, the index rose by 24.65 points or 1.82 percent, closing at 1,381.19 with traded stocks ranging between 1,354.98 and 1,382.80. A total of 22.592 billion shares worth 53.773 billion baht were traded. Of these, 408 gained, 82 declined, while 154 stocks remained unchanged.

Among the active traders, businesses such as Advanced Info, Airport of Thailand, Asset World, Bangkok Dusit Medical, Bangkok Expressway, Banpu, B Grimm, BTS Group, Charoen Pokphand Foods, CP All Public, EA Energy, Gulf, Kasikornbank, Krung Thai Bank, Krung Thai Card, PTT Oil & Resource, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical, SCG Packaging, Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Concrete, Thai Oil, True Corporation showed growth, while Bangkok Bank fell. TTB Bank remained unchanged.

Wall Street's performance suggests a slight upside with major averages opening higher on Wednesday, although there was a mild decrease by the end of trading. Technology stocks, led by the likes of Netflix, which experienced a surge, largely drove this upward trend.

However, investors became cautious over renewed interests rate concerns, sparked by a resurgence in treasury yields. These yields initially declined early in the session but bounced back due to positive U.S. economic data and a disappointing five-year note auction.

Oil prices also saw an increase on Wednesday due to data revealing a larger decline in U.S. crude inventories than expected, paired with a weak dollar, causing the price of oil to rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rose by $0.72 or nearly 1 percent to $75.09 a barrel.