Thai Bourse Likely Rangebound On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market bounced higher again on Monday, one session after snapping the five-day winning streak win which it had surged more than 90 points or 6.5 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just beneath the 1,440-point plateau and it figures to see little movement on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little guidance amidst a lack of catalysts as the U.S. markets were off for the President's Day holiday. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit, although many of them are off for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The SET finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the consumer, technology, finance and industrial sectors were capped by weakness from the services and food stocks.

For the day, the index added 7.68 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 1,438.09 after trading between 1,432.74 and 1,447.68. Volume was 8.085 billion shares worth 51.039 billion baht. There were 270 gainers and 194 decliners, with 202 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info perked 0.26 percent, while Thailand Airport stumbled 2.17 percent, Asset World strengthened 1.60 percent, Banpu improved 0.87 percent, Bangkok Bank rose 0.31 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical rallied 1.88 percent, Bangkok Expressway soared 1.82 percent, B. Grimm shed 0.66 percent, BTS Group crashed 8.03 percent, CP All Public added 0.51 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods dropped 0.94 percent, Gulf increased 0.84 percent, Kasikornbank jumped 1.79 percent, Krung Thai Bank spiked 2.48 percent, Krung Thai Card skyrocketed 7.38 percent, PTT Exploration and Production tumbled 1.85 percent, SCG Packaging sank 0.96 percent, Siam Commercial Bank collected 0.71 percent, Siam Concrete slumped 0.90 percent, True Corporation expanded 1.49 percent, TTB Bank vaulted 1.98 percent and PTT Global Chemical, Energy Absolute, PTT Oil & Retail, PTT and Thai Oil were unchanged.

There is no lead from Wall Street, and the European markets offer little in the way of clarity by ending mixed and little changed.

The major European markets saw little movement on Monday with investors reacting to corporate news, developments on the geopolitical front, and ahead of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting.

Investors focused on the Munich Security Conference, in which several European leaders reiterated the need for greater defense spending to accelerate the continent's strategic autonomy.

Crude oil prices inches higher on Monday, driven by tensions in the Middle East, although the upside was limited by oversupply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up 0.08 percent to $62.89 per barrel.