The Stock Exchange of Thailand ended a four-day losing streak on Tuesday, climbing back above key levels before facing fresh headwinds from global geopolitical tensions.
The SET index gained 15.83 points or 1.09 percent on Tuesday, finishing at 1,464.66 after trading between 1,449.64 and 1,468.14 throughout the session.
Trading volume reached 8.178 billion shares worth 52.609 billion baht, reflecting broad participation across the market during the rebound session.
Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by a significant margin, with 366 gainers against 135 decliners and 166 stocks finishing unchanged on the day.
Gains were widespread across sectors, with food, consumer, finance, industrial, property, resource, service and technology stocks all contributing to the index’s recovery.
Among the standout performers, SCG Packaging surged 4.31 percent, while B. Grimm accelerated 2.92 percent and Advanced Info spiked 2.31 percent on the day.
Bangkok Bank strengthened 1.66 percent, Bangkok Dusit Medical increased 1.67 percent, Energy Absolute spiked 1.68 percent and Asset World rallied 1.59 percent during the session.
Not all stocks participated in the rally, however, as PTT sank 0.74 percent and Thai Oil fell 0.49 percent, while TTB Bank shed 0.51 percent.
Despite Tuesday’s domestic gains, the global forecast for Asian markets has turned soft on rising geopolitical tensions stemming from a major escalation in the Middle East.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel, which it said was in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others in recent Israeli airstrikes.
A senior White House official had said earlier in the day that the U.S. had indications Iran was preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, contributing to the early sell-off by stocks on Wall Street.
The Dow dropped 173.18 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 42,156.97, while the NASDAQ plummeted 278.81 points or 1.53 percent to close at 17,910.36.
The S&P 500 sank 53.73 points or 0.93 percent to end at 5,708.75, as Wall Street investors reacted sharply to the rapidly developing situation in the Middle East.
Middle East tensions also pushed oil prices higher, with West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November closing up $1.66 or nearly 2.5 percent at $69.83 a barrel.
The geopolitical turbulence largely overshadowed separate reports showing a continued contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity in September and an unexpected increase in U.S. job openings in August.
With Wall Street closing in negative territory and geopolitical uncertainty continuing to dominate sentiment, Asian markets including Thailand are expected to follow the U.S. lead lower at the open.
