Profit Taking Anticipated For Thai Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, improving more than 90 points or 6.5 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,440-point plateau although it's overdue for consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on AI concerns and ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology sectors.

For the day, the index surged 29.83 points or 2.11 percent to finish at the daily high of 1,441.53 after trading as low as 1,412.45. Volume was 11.668 billion shares worth 78.412 billion baht. There were 436 gainers and 79 decliners, with 153 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info improved 2.60 percent, while Thailand Airport perked 0.88 percent, Asset World surged 5.83 percent, Banpu and PTT Exploration and Production both skyrocketed 5.41 percent, Bangkok Bank jumped 1.86 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical was up 0.96 percent, Bangkok Expressway picked up 2.83 percent, B. Grimm rallied 5.07 percent, BTS Group climbed 3.28 percent, CP All Public gathered 1.02 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods strengthened 1.43 percent, Energy Absolute and Krung Thai Card both elevated 2.50 percent, Gulf increased 4.46 percent, Kasikornbank spiked 2.85 percent, Krung Thai Bank vaulted 2.48 percent, PTT Oil & Retail added 2.14 percent, PTT rose 1.41 percent, PTT Global Chemical soared 3.88 percent, SCG Packaging accelerated 3.45 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 1.43 percent, Siam Concrete expanded 1.38 percent, Thai Oil gained 3.00 percent, True Corporation advanced 3.03 percent and TTB Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and trended lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow stumbled 669.42 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 49,451.98, while the NASDAQ plunged 469.32 points or 2.03 percent to close at 22,597.15 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.71 points or 1.57 percent to end at 6,832.76.

The sell-off on Wall Street was partly attributed to concerns about the impact of the artificial intelligence buildout on industries other than the tech sector, such as financial, transportation and logistics and commercial real estate companies.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dipped less than expected last week. Also, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales pulled back much more than expected in January.

The focus now shifts to the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation that is due to be released before the start of trading on Friday.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Thursday after the demand forecast by the International Energy Agency for 2026 projected an overwhelming supply glut. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.97 or 3.05 percent at $62.66 per barrel.