Thai stocks hit four-month low after bomb in south

Thai shares dropped almost three percent on Monday after a weekend bomb wounded nearly 30 people in the largely Muslim south, with big cap stocks suffering and developer N.C. Housing falling on its debut.
Trade was thin and shares in N.C. Housing fell after an early rise prompted by strong housing demand brightening the company's earnings outlooks.
They closed down 17 percent at 16.6 baht, having hit 21.2 baht in early trade, from an initial public offering price of 20 baht.
The benchmark Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index closed down 19.45 points, or 2.92 percent, at 645.8 points, its lowest close since December 1.
The big-cap SET 50 fell 3.38 percent to 42.94 points, with shares in top energy firm PTT PCL down 5.48 percent at 138 baht and shares in top mobile phone firm Advanced Info Service falling 4.4 percent to 85.5 baht.
Turnover remained thin at 13.8 billion baht ($349 million), although it was up a little from 10.79 billion baht on Friday.
Analysts and dealers attributed the fall to the bomb on Saturday evening in a border town popular with Malaysian tourists.
"Investors wanted to reduce their risks as they were not sure when the southern problems will end. And the market direction will really depend on news flows about the south," said analyst Aroonrat Jivankul at Siam City Securities.
She recommended investors collect stocks in firms with good fundamentals and paying good dividends when prices dipped.
Several analysts said the bomb could hurt the tourist industry and led to concerns that it may spread to other tourist spots in the south during a long-holiday in April.
Other fallers included shares in fixed-line operator TelecomAsia, which closed down 6.5 percent at 7.15 baht after the company announced a capital raising plan.
TA said it planned to issue 450 million new shares in a private placement at a minimum price of six baht, compared to a the 10 baht par value of its stock.
The company said in a letter to the exchange it planned to issue 498.69 million shares for the private placement, warrant conversions and conversions of loans to equity by International Finance Corporation, its creditor.
Shares in Capital Nomura Securities PCL, a unit of Japan's Nomura Securities, fell 5.2 percent to 73 baht despite announcing strong earnings.
The company reported a net profit of 314.96 million baht for six months to February 29, 2004, up from a net profit of 0.79 million baht in the same period a year earlier.