Thai share prices closed flat on Wednesday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the release of US inflation data and amid ongoing violence in the Middle East, dealers said.
They said investors also awaited US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before US lawmakers later in the day for a lead on inflation and interest rates. The Bank of Thailand meanwhile left local interest rates unchanged at an eight-year high of 5.00 percent in a widely expected move after inflation moderated in June.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 0.53 points to 660.11 points while the blue chip SET 50 index added 0.52 to 459.37. Gainers led losers 163 to 140 and 104 stocks were unchanged on turnover of 1.7 billion shares worth 8.7 billion baht (228 million dollars).
The Thai baht closed at 38.18-23 to the dollar Wednesday, little changed from Tuesday's 38.12-15. Against the euro, the Thai unit finished at 47.60-90 after 47.68-73.
"The market moved sideways as investors took a wait-and-see stance ahead of US inflation data" due later Wednesday, said Pichai Lertsupongkit, a senior market analyst at Prudential Siam Securities. Investors also traded with caution ahead of Bernanke's testimony Wednesday and amid fears over continuing violence in the Middle East.
"Buying sentiment was very weak as investors were shifting money from the stock market to safe haven investments such as gold," Pichai said. PTT was unchanged at 228.00 baht and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production was also flat at 109.00. Bangkok Bank added 0.50 baht to 56.50 and Thai Airways International rose 0.50 to 37.75.
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