|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.41/44
Bid/Ask
|
GOLD |
14,150
+ 100
|
|
STOCK MARKET
DARANA CHUDASRI
A see-saw session closed yesterday with a rarely-seen zero change for the Stock Exchange of Thailand index.
The SET index fell as low as 754.16 points in morning trade before regaining ground in the afternoon to close at 768.90, exactly equal to Friday's close. Turnover was thin at 14 billion baht.
According to SET officials, yesterday was the third time in history that the index had closed with no change, with the two previous times both occurring in 2001.
Energy stocks led trade, gaining 0.8% on the day, while banks lost 0.88% and property stocks rose 0.52%. Foreign investors remained net sellers on the day at -1.9 billion baht, while local investors were net buyers of 615 million and local institutions 1.3 billion.
Shares of BankThai led the market in terms of percentage gains, closing up 29.54% or 39 satang to 1.71 in trade worth 236.37 million baht.
Malaysia's CIMB Group announced on Friday that it would purchase a 42.13% stake in BankThai from the Financial Institutions Development Fund for 5.9 billion baht. CIMB would also tender all remaining BankThai shares at the acquisition price of 2.10 baht per share.
Shares of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd, the holding company for CIMB, slid 0.6% to 8.2 ringgit yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, as analysts said it would take several years before the BankThai investment generated returns.
The gains in BankThai came despite signals from the Finance Ministry about misgiving over the deal. The ministry is investigating the FIDF's past policies regarding BankThai, and must approve lifting the 25% foreign shareholding limit for the CIMB acquisition to proceed.
Analysts said the SET, which has fallen 7.7% since the beginning of the month, outperformed many other Asian markets yesterday, which mostly closed lower over concerns about rising oil prices and softer economic growth.
Poramet Tongbua, head of equity research at Tisco Securities, said the SET could rebound to near 800 points if politics and the economy remain stable.
But he said the regional trend pointed towards a shift from equities to commodities and bonds, particularly short-term instruments as interest rates worldwide rose with central banks fighting off inflation.
Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of economic research at Kasikornbank, agreed that global investors were trimming their shareholdings to curb risk from inflation.
Rising costs would affect corporate profit margins and consumption. Capital flows are also shifting to the US market on expectations of rising US interest rates and a stronger dollar.''The stronger dollar is putting pressure on Asian stock markets. For some hedge funds, the money shift may be for some time,'' Dr Kobsidthi said.
''But for emerging market funds, the move to the sidelines is probably just temporary as fund managers seek to reduce their risk levels.''
The baht yesterday traded around a narrow range of 33.35 to 33.50 to the dollar yesterday.
The currency has fallen around 3% to the dollar this month, despite intervention by the central bank. Foreign investors have also been selling funds in the bond market. Ten-year government bond yields rose five basis points to 6.14789% yesterday, while five-year yields fell 0.61 points to 5.71697%.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Next
