Thai shares close flat

Thai share prices closed flat on Wednesday after last minute profit-taking which followed a sharp gain in local equities a day earlier, dealers said.
They said the overall trend in Thailand remained positive, in line with a strong performance in Tokyo despite a lacklustre performance on Wall Street overnight.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index edged down 0.25 points to 698.43 and the blue chip SET 50 index was off 0.53 at 492.04.
Gainers outnumbered losers 170 to 127 and 123 stocks unchanged with turnover of 3.9 billion shares worth 16.2 billion baht (396.0 million dollars).
The Thai baht was stable against the greenback and closed Wednesday at 40.91-93 baht to one dollar compared to the previous close of 40.91-93.
Against the euro the Thai unit closed at 48.65-72 to one compared to Tuesday's close of 48.92-96.
"The index lost slightly because of profit taking in the finance and construction sectors and other speculative stocks in the afternoon session," Viriya Larppromratana, chief analyst at Kiatnakin Securities said. But she said the market was still in an uptrend as she expected the index to hit the 703-point mark on Thursday.
"Our market trend remains positive despite minor prnormal as Tuesday's index gained sharply without sufficient positive factors," she said.
The banking sectoral index closed 0.06 percent lower, energy fell 0.89 percent, construction rose 0.68 percent while communications increased 0.33 percent.
Bangkok Bank was unchanged at 104.00 baht, but Kasikornbank added 0.50 to 66.50 while Siam Commercial Bank shed 0.50 to 50.00.
Siam Cement rose 2.00 to 244.00 baht, but PTT dropped 2.00 to 228.00 and PTT Exploration and Production plunged 8.00 to 464.00.
Thai Airways International was up 0.75 to 42.75 and Shin Corp rose 0.50 to 41.50.