Thai shares closed 1.36 percent lower on Monday following the regional trend, mainly due to losses in big-cap energy shares, dealers said. They said investors dumped energy stocks on the expectation of bad news when companies release their results for the last quarter of 2008 later this month.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 6.26 points to close at 452.80 while the blue chip SET-50 index lost 5.92 points to 317.08. Gainers led losers 148 to 139 with 106 stocks unchanged on turnover of 2.95 billion shares worth 9.35 billion baht (267.52 million dollars).
The Thai baht fell against the US dollar and finished at 34.95-96 baht from 34.83-85 Friday. But the unit strengthened against the euro and closed at 46.71-79 from 47.60-65. "The market closed down today because of losses in big-cap energy shares," said Mayuree Chowvikran, senior vice president at Kim Eng Securities. "Investors expect negative reports about the performances of state energy firm PTT and its sister companies during the last quarter."
Top energy firm PTT Plc fell 9.00 baht to close at 168.00 baht while its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production shed 5.00 to 108.00. Another energy firm, Banpu, also fell 6.00 to 240.00. The kingdom's biggest lender, Bangkok Bank, was unchanged at 71.00 while Kasikorn Bank edged down 0.75 to 46.50. Siam Commercial Bank also slipped 1.00 to 52.00. Flag carrier Thai Airways edged down 0.15 to close at 7.15.