Thai share prices closed 0.86 percent lower on Wednesday in line with sluggish regional markets after Japanese stocks tumbled on fears of a sell-off on Wall Street, dealers said. They said the market also fell on profit-taking while investors were hardly surprised by the Bank of Thailand's rate cut aimed at halting the Thai baht's rise against the dollar.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index lost 7.35 points to 849.56 points and the blue chip SET 50 declined 2.73 points to 610.24. Losers outnumbered gainers 261 to 112, with 98 stocks unchanged on turnover of 5.9 billion shares worth 24.5 billion baht (732 million dollars).
The Thai baht closed at a 10-year high of 33.46-48 to the dollar, slightly down from Tuesday's close of 33.35-37. Against the euro, the local unit was quoted at 46.10-15 from 45.83-85. "While the market was higher in the morning session, it fell on profit-taking and weak regional markets," said Kanang Duangmanee, an economist at Kasikorn Research Center.
Sentiment turned downbeat after Japan's stock market fell sharply on fears of a sell-off on Wall Street following lacklustre earning results from US corporate heavyweights Intel and Yahoo. Investors were little surprised by Wednesday's rate cut, which came amid mounting government calls on the central bank to take measures in a bid to curb the baht's rise.
The strong baht has put pressure on exports, the key driver of the economy, as it makes Thai goods less competitive abroad and cuts the value of repatriated profits. The central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the fifth consecutive rate cut this year, to 3.25 percent.
Thailand's top energy firm PTT rose 2.00 baht to 310.00, but its unit PTT Exploration and Production fell 3.00 to 123.00. The kingdom's top lender Bangkok Bank also lost 2.00 to 129.00. Thai Airways International edged down 0.75 to 43.75, but Thailand's top mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service rose 1.50 to 96.50.
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