The Thai stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 5 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,580-point plateau and it's looking at a flat lead for Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs report, although crude oil continues to provide support. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SET finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares were tempered by weakness from the energy producers.
For the day, the index added 4.09 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 1,580.54 after trading between 1,577.18 and 1,582.59. Volume was 8.046 billion shares worth 41.737 billion baht. There were 636 gainers and 477 decliners, with 416 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Advanced Info shed 0.54 percent, while Thailand Airport added 0.48 percent, Banpu gained 0.60 percent, Bangkok Bank collected 0.28 percent, Bangkok Medical surged 3.16 percent, Bangkok Expressway advanced 0.68 percent, Krung Thai Bank gathered 0.56 percent, PTT skidded 1.30 percent, PTT Exploration and Production was up 0.29 percent, PTT Global Chemical fell 0.68 percent and Siam Commercial Bank, Siam Concrete, Kasikornbank and Charoen Pokphand Foods were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is inconclusive as stocks hovered near the unchanged line before ending on opposite sides of it - although the Dow managed to hit another record close.
The Dow jumped 52.32 points or 0.24 percent to 22,016.24, while the NASDAQ eased 0.29 points or 0.01 percent to 6,362.65 and the S&P added 1.22 points or 0.05 percent to 2,477.57.
Traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report from the Labor Department.
Ahead of that report, payroll processor ADP reported that private sector employment increased by less than expected in July.
Crude oil futures rose Wednesday, holding near $50 a barrel after a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. oil inventories. WTI light sweet crude oil rose 43 cents or 0.9 percent to $49.59 a barrel. Crude was up 8 percent in July, touching eight-week highs.
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