Thai share prices closed flat on Monday with thin volumes as the army-backed government's announcement on the new election date failed to boost market sentiment, dealers said. They said investors chose to stay on the sidelines to wait for this week's US Federal Reserve statement on subprime loans, as well the Bank of Thailand's meeting on interest rates.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 0.45 points, or 0.06 percent, to 791.17 and the blue chip SET 50 index added 0.10 to 565.16. Losers topped gainers 166 to 140, with 142 stocks unchanged on turnover of 1.7 billion shares worth 11.2 billion baht (326 million dollars). The Thai baht was up slightly against the dollar, closing at 34.35-37 from Friday's 34.39-42. Against the euro, the Thai unit finished at 46.90-47.00 from 46.70-75.
The government, which came to power after a coup last year, on Monday set December 23 for the new election, saying the date would give political parties enough time to run their campaigns. But Kavee Chukitkasem, assistant managing director of Kasikorn Securities, said the announcement did not surprise the market.
"The market has expected December 23 as the date for the election, so the announcement didn't really boost trading, despite last week's gains on Wall Street," Kavee said. "Investors locked in profit ahead of the rate-setting committee's meeting on Wednesday to hear the policy direction regarding interest rates."
Kavee said investors have been waiting for US economic data set to be released this week along with the statements from Fed on the subprime loans. Thailand's top energy firm PTT lost 2.00 baht to 288.00, and its unit PTT Exploration and Production gained 1.00 to 114.00. Top lender Bangkok Bank also added 1.00 to 118.00. Thai Airways International was unchanged at 41.75. The kingdom's largest mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service dropped 2.00 to 89.50.