Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for the queen's birthday, the Thai stock market finished higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 35 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,375-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after data supported optimism for economic recovery following the shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are also tipped to open in the green.
The SET finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, cement stocks and energy producers.
For the day, the index spiked 21.81 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 1,374.18 after trading between 1,357.23 and 1,374.29. Volume was 17.130 billion shares worth 70.987 billion baht. There were 899 gainers and 516 decliners, with 324 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info climbed 1.04 percent, while Thailand Airport spiked 2.83 percent, Asset World advanced 0.86 percent, Banpu accelerated 3.12 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.43 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical jumped 1.79 percent, Bangkok Expressway added 0.51 percent, BTS Group tumbled 1.65 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods gathered 1.59 percent, Kasikornbank gained 2.30 percent, Krung Thai Bank increased 2.86 percent, PTT perked 2.78 percent, PTT Exploration and Production rose 2.59 percent, PTT Global Chemical was up 2.20 percent, Siam Commercial Bank soared 2.34 percent, Siam Concrete surged 3.52 percent and TMB Bank climbed 2.59 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks moved sharply higher on Wednesday, sending the major averages to fresh multi-month closing highs.
The Dow surged 527.24 points or 2.05 percent to finish at 26,269.89, while the NASDAQ advanced 74.54 points or 0.78 percent to end at 9,682.91 and the S&P 500 jumped 42.05 points or 1.36 percent to close at 3,122.87.
The continued strength on Wall Street came as new economic data added to investor optimism for a quick recovery, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing the pace of private sector job losses slowed more than expected in May.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management also showed the pace of contraction in the service sector slowed more than expected.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Wednesday on reports that OPEC will likely extend production cuts by another month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended up $0.48 or 1.3 percent at $37.29 a barrel, the best closing level for a front-month contract since March 6.
Closer to home, Thailand will see May results for its consumer confidence index later today; in April, the index score was 47.2.
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