(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 30 points or 1.9 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand remains just above the 1,615-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic thanks to a jump in crude oil prices and slightly easing fears of a recession in the United States. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the energy producers were offset by weakness from the financial shares.
For the day, the index added 1.46 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 1,616.93 after trading between 1,615.19 and 1,624.27. Volume was 15.468 billion shares worth 46.463 billion baht. There were 694 gainers and 690 decliners, with 583 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info added 0.44 percent, while Thailand Airport rose 0.35 percent, Bangkok Bank skidded 1.18 percent, Bangkok Medical shed 0.43 percent, Bangkok Expressway dropped 0.90 percent, BTS Group advanced 0.75 percent, Kasikornbank collected 0.97 percent, Krung Thai Bank lost 0.60 percent, PTT perked 0.61 percent, PTT Exploration and Production jumped 1.31 percent, Siam Commercial Bank sank 1.23 percent, TMB Bank plunged 2.70 percent and Siam Concrete, PTT Global Chemical, Banpu and Charoen Pokphand Foods were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as stocks shook off early weakness Wednesday to bounce higher and finish firmly in the green.
The Dow added 258.20 points or 1.00 percent to 26,036, while the NASDAQ gained 29.94 points or 0.38 percent to 7,856.88 and the S&P 500 rose 18.78 points or 0.65 percent to 2,887.94.
The energy sectors led the rebound as crude oil futures ended higher Wednesday, buoyed by data showing a significant drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended up $0.85 or 1.6 percent at $55.78 a barrel.
The rebound on Wall Street also came as bond yields climbed off their worst levels of the session, although they remained negative.
Earlier in the day, the negative spread between the ten-year and two-year yields widened to its lowest level since 2007, with an inverted yield curve seen as an indicator that a U.S. recession is looming.
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