Thai stocks end flat as trade drops to nine-month low

Thai shares closed nearly unchanged in thin trade on Monday as bargain hunting in big-cap stocks offset poor sentiment emanating from falls on other Asian stock markets, analysts said.
The benchmark Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index closed up 0.07 of a point, or 0.01 percent, at 681.34 points and the big-cap SET 50 rose 0.29 percent to 45.18 points.
Turnover dropped to a nine-month low of 10.3 billion baht ($261 million) from 15.4 billion baht on Friday.
Analyst said buyers stayed on the sidelines as there were no positive factors to drive the market while investors shifted their focus to moves on regional markets.
"Negative sentiment on regional markets did affect us psychologically.
It caused investors to stay cautious," said analyst Wanchai Boonprasert of National Securities.
Poor sentiment on the Taiwan stock market due to political turmoil had affected other stock markets in the region, including Thailand's, he said.
But investors were collecting shares in firms with good fundamentals, which helped the market to trade in the black for some of the afternoon, Wanchai said.
Syrus Securities analyst Charoen Iampathanatham said he expected the sluggish mood to continue on Tuesday.
"This kind of market is one where investors are waiting for new factors.
They aren't sure of the market's direction," he said.
He expected support for the index at 670 points and resistance at 690 points on Tuesday.
The most actively traded stock was Eastern Commercial Leasing, which rose 15 percent to 7.30 baht on its debut from an initial public offering price of 6.35 baht on expectations of good earnings in a thriving economy, analysts said.
Profit-taking sent shares in brokerage firms lower. Among the most actively traded were shares in top broker Kim Eng Securities , which fell 0.94 percent to 52.5 baht.
The finance sector index fell 0.61 percent.
But Wanchai at National Securities said he expected bargain hunting in brokerage shares over the next few days because their earnings outlooks had brightened since market regulators decided last week to extend the minimum broker fee for another two years from January 2005.
Shares in the banking sector were in focus again as they were getting closer to announcing first quarter results, analysts said.
Among the gainers were shares in Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand's fourth-largest bank, which rose 1.08 percent to 46.75 baht while the bank sector index edged up 0.05 percent.