FX.co ★ Rally May Stall For Thai Stock Market

The Thai stock market has achieved gains over two consecutive days, accumulating more than twelve points or 1 percent. Now, the Stock Exchange of Thailand is just above the 1,375-point level, although it may lose these gains on Wednesday.

In terms of global perspectives, the Asian markets' forecast is uncertain, mirroring the outlook for interest rates. However, the upward trend in European markets was contrasted with a mixed and flat performance in the U.S. markets, a trend that the Asian markets likely to follow.

On Tuesday, the SET ended slightly higher, owing mainly to advances in the consumer, industrial, resource, and technology sectors.

The index saw a 6.45 points or 0.47 percent increase, closing at 1,376.37 after being traded between 1,373.98 and 1,384.74. A total of 11.744 billion shares worth 41.743 billion baht were traded. 290 stocks gained while 186 depreciated and 182 remained unchanged. Prominent performers among the stocks included Advanced Info, Asset World, Banpu, Bangkok Bank, and Bangkok Dusit Medical among others.

On Wall Street, however, the scene was less clear. Major indices opened on a high note yet slowly dwindled, leading to a mixed and essentially unchanged finish.

As stocks continue to enjoy renewed optimism about interest rate outlooks, the Dow added 31.99 points or 0.08 percent to end at 38,884.26. In contrast, the NASDAQ slipped 16.69 points or 0.10 percent to close at 16,332.56. The S&P 500, on the other hand, rose 6.96 points or 0.13 percent ending at 5,187.70.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's relatively dovish comments, coupled with weaker-than-anticipated job growth in April, have largely quashed fleeting concerns that the Fed might consider a rate increase. However, the shopping spree lost steam towards the afternoon after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari proposed that interest rates might need to stay at current levels for a prolonged period.

Finally, oil futures ended slightly lower on Tuesday due to concerns about the global oil demand outlook. June's West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures went down by $0.10, ending at $78.38 a barrel.