Thai shares closed 1.03 percent lower on Friday as foreign investors sold shares in big-cap stocks, especially in the energy sector, dealers said. They said the Thai bourse also fell in line with other regional markets amid persisting concerns over high inflation driven by high oil prices.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 8.16 points to close at 782.64, while the blue chip SET 50 index lost 6.73 points to 559.31. Losers far outnumbered gainers 245 to 91 with 106 stocks unchanged on turnover of 4.00 billion shares worth 16.12 billion baht (486.08 million dollars).
The Thai baht depreciated against the dollar and closed at 33.16-18 baht from Thursday's 33.14-16. But the Thai unit strengthened against the euro and finished at 50.89-95 baht from 51.11-13 the previous day. "The market was rangebound today. It fell later due mainly to sales of energy shares from foreign investors," said Viriya Lappromrattana, senior vice president at Kiatnakin Securities.
The Thai market fell in line with other regional markets, including China, Hong Kong and South Korea. Shares prices fell in major stocks including energy, banking and property shares. "Concerns over high inflation driven by high fuel prices remained and dampened the market sentiment," Viriya said.
Thailand's inflation rate jumped to a 10-year high of 7.6 percent in May as soaring fuel prices pushed up costs in food and other sectors. Thailand's top energy firm PTT lost 6.00 baht to close at 320.00, while its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production fell 1.00 to 182.00.
Another major energy firm, Banpu, was unchanged at 504.00. The kingdom's biggest lender Bangkok Bank was unchanged at 117.00. Kasikorn Bank fell 1.50 to 73.50 while Siam Commercial Bank slipped 1.00 to 79.00. Thai Airways International edged up 0.20 to 23.00 while the kingdom's biggest mobile phone operator, Advance Info Service, fell 1.00 to close at 88.00.