Thai share prices closed 2.63 percent higher on Friday as investors took heart from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's reassuring comments on the US economy, dealers said. They said buying spread across the board in line with a sharp rally on Wall Street and gains across the region.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index jumped 17.07 points to 665.39, while the blue chip SET 50 index rose 13.78 points to 460.00. Gainers far outnumbered losers 305 to 56 and 75 stocks were unchanged with 2.29 billion shares worth 15.0 billion baht (390 million dollars) traded. The Thai baht on Friday closed at 38.33-36 to the dollar, little changed from Thursday's 38.37-40. Against the euro, the Thai currency closed at 48.52-57, compared with 48.42-47.
"Buying sentiment was strong following a surge on Wall Street yesterday," said Sukhbir Khanijoh, a senior market analyst at Trinity Securities. US stocks jumped Thursday after Fed chairman Bernanke appeared to tone down his rhetoric about inflation that had sent the market into a tailspin.
But Bernanke did little to clarify the Fed's next moves, but Sukhbir said investors widely expected another quarter-point increase to 5.25 percent at the end of this month when the Fed will hold a rate-setting meeting.
Shares in Thailand's top energy firm PTT jumped 10.00 to 218.00 baht and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production gained 5.00 to 103.00. Thailand's top lender Bangkok Bank rose 4.50 to 100.00, while Kasikorn Bank, the third-largest bank, increased 2.00 to 57.00. Thai Airways International also rose 2.00 to 39.75, while Thailand's top mobile operator, Advance Info Service (AIS), fell 1.00 to 87.00.