In the morning session, a stock analyst at Krungsri Securities said he expected the index to rise between 1,345 and 1,350 before falling as Russia has claimed to have successfully developed a Covid-19 vaccine, while the price of oil rose to more than US$42 (Bt1,305) per barrel.
However, the analyst said the index will still be under pressure from uncertainty following a planned $1-trillion economic stimulus package in the US and US-China trade negotiations on Saturday.
The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, AOT, BBL, KCE, STGT, MINT, PTT, SCB, HANA and CPALL.
As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil had risen by $0.13 or 0.30 per cent to $42.80 per barrel, while gold dropped by $4.80 or 0.25 per cent, to $1,944.20 per ounce.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 23,249.61, up 405.65 points, or 1.78 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,320.73, up 1.46 points, or 0.044 per cent, while Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 13,291.32, down 17.20 points, or 0.13 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 25,230.67, down 13.35 points, or 0.053 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,437.53, up 5.18 points, or 0.21 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 12,763.13, up 92.78 points, or 0.73 per cent.