Thai shares gained 1.28 percent on Tuesday, closing at an eight-month high on speculative buying of energy shares after oil prices rose, an analyst said. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index was up 7.70 points to close at 607.73 while the blue chip SET-50 index added 6.10 points to 436.39.
The last time the bourse reached as high was on September 26, when it hit 618.97. Gainers led losers 277 to 107 and 112 stocks were unchanged on turnover of 3.6 billion shares worth 20.3 billion baht (593.7 million dollars) The Thai baht strengthened against the dollar to close at 34.23-25 compared to Monday's close of 34.37-40.
Against the euro, the baht rose slightly to 47.57-62 compared to 47.60-70 the previous day. Veerachai Krongsamsri, an analyst at Far East Securities, said investors bought energy shares as the oil price rose. "The US will report its oil reserves on Wednesday, which will affect the oil price further, so investors speculatively bought energy shares," he said.
The price of crude oil climbed to nearly 69 dollars a barrel in Asia on Tuesday. PTT Plc and its subsidiary, PTT Exploration and Production both added 2.00 baht to close at 231.00 and 141.00 respectively. The country's largest bank, Bangkok Bank, rose 4.50 baht to 104.50 baht, while Kasikornbank closed unchanged at 68.00. Coal miner Banpu gained 3.00 to 344.00 and Siam Cement was up 1.00 baht to close at 159.50.