Thai share prices closed 0.33 percent lower on Wednesday as investors locked in profits in energy and oil stocks, dealers said. They said sentiment was also sluggish due to weaker performance in Asia following a mixed close on Wall Street.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 2.85 points to 850.58 and the blue chip SET-50 index lost 3.14 points to 618.89. Losers led gainers 156 to 141, with 149 stocks unchanged on turnover of 2.4 billion shares worth 19 billion baht (555 million dollars).
The Thai baht moved little against the dollar, closing at 34.24-25. Against the euro, the Thai unit finished at 48.51-56 from 48.50-65. "The market was under pressure due to profit-taking in the commodity sector, mainly oil and energy shares," said Sukit Udomsirikul, a senior market analyst at Siam City Securities.
"In addition to profit-taking, the market was down in line with a fall in the Asian market today," he said. Thailand's top energy firm PTT fell 2.00 baht to 330.00, while its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production was unchanged at 135.00. Thai Oil shed 1.00 to 87.00.
The nation's top lender Bangkok Bank rose 1.00 to 117.00. Thai Airways International edged up 0.25 to 42.00 and the kingdom's largest mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service also gained 0.50 to 90.00.