Thai share prices closed 0.82 percent lower on Tuesday as sentiment was hit by the global economic gloom, dealers said. The market rebounded slightly after a steep drop the previous day amid light trade, they said. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 3.43 points to 413.09 points while the blue chip SET-50 index shed 2.89 points to 285.35.
Losers led gainers 168 to 137 with 110 stocks unchanged on turnover of 1.60 billion shares worth 8.04 billion baht (222.39 million dollars). The baht gained slightly against the dollar to finish at 36.15-17 baht from 36.23-25 the previous day. But it was stable against the euro to close at 45.65-70 from 45.61-66. "The market was less volatile than yesterday but finished down because of losses in the energy sector," said Chai Chirasevenupraphand, a market strategist at Capital Nomura Securities.
"Fears over the global economy continued to plague the market. Trading remained low," he said. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday admitted the domestic economy was likely to contract further in the next few months as the trading nation suffers from dwindling export orders from the West.
Gross domestic product fell by 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and the government has planned urgent fiscal measures to attempt to revive economic fortunes. On Tuesday Thailand's top energy firm PTT Plc shed 1.00 baht to close at 150.00, while its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production was unchanged at 83.00.
Another major energy firm, Banpu, also fell 3.00 to 192.00. The kingdom's biggest lender Bangkok Bank lost 1.50 to 69.00 while Kasikorn Bank shed 1.00 to 40.50. Siam Commercial Bank was unchanged at 51.50. The country's largest mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service slipped 2.50 to 79.00, while Siam Cement shed 1.00 to 98.00.
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