Thai share prices closed little changed on Thursday, with sentiment sluggish due to a lack of new leads, dealers said. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 0.62 points to 745.54 and the blue chip SET 50 index lost 0.71 points to 522.03.
Losers led gainers 198 to 152, with 124 stocks unchanged on turnover of 3.8 billion shares worth 14.5 billion baht (408 million dollars). The Thai baht rose to an eight-year high of 35.57-59 to the dollar from Wednesday's 36.66-68 and finished at 47.23-45 to the euro from 47.29-33.
"The market was down due to selling of energy shares," Kavee Chukitkasem, a senior strategist at Capital Nomura Securities, said, adding sentiment was downbeat due to a lack of fresh incentives. Energy-linked shares account for nearly 30 percent of the Thai market.
While overall the market slipped, investors bought into the banking sector amid rising speculations that the Bank of Thailand will cut its key interest rate for the first time in three years at next week's board meeting.
Thailand's largest energy firm PTT fell 4.00 baht to 234.00 and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production slipped 1.00 to 107.00. Thai Oil fell 1.00 to 59.00. Top lender Bangkok Bank rose 2.00 to 128.00. Flag carrier Thai Airways International declined 0.50 to 44.50 but Thailand's biggest mobile phone operator, Advanced Info Service, added 0.50 to 84.50.
Comments
Comments are closed.