Thai share prices closed 2.33 percent lower on Friday as investors dumped shares in line with a regional sell-off following Wall Street's tumble overnight, dealers said. They said the market was also hit by concerns there could be fresh violence during weekend anti-coup protests as Thailand's junta chief said that he will deploy troops to reinforce security measures by police at the rallies.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index dropped 20.58 points to 863.58 and the blue chip SET 50 shed 16.89 points to 621.67.
Losers far outnumbered gainers 339 to 63, with 87 stocks unchanged on turnover of 3.9 billion shares worth 34.9 billion baht (one billion dollars). The Thai baht moved little against the dollar, closing at 33.72-74 from Thursday's 33.68-70. Against the euro, the baht stood at 46.05-09 from 46.20-40.
"Foreign, institutional and domestic investors were all sellers today because of the Wall Street and regional sell-offs," said Chai Chirasevenupraphand, a market strategist at Capital Nomura Securities.
Dealers said fears over violence during weekend rallies against the military-installed government also pressured stocks. The junta's announcement of the troop deployment came one day after nine protest leaders were arrested over clash.