Thai shares rebound, led by big energy stocks

Business News - Saturday December 22, 2007

STOCKS / LOCAL MARKET

Thai shares rebound, led by big energy stocks

KRISSANA PARNSOONTHORN

Thai shares rebounded 2.76% yesterday on the back of gains in major regional markets as investors returned to invest in large-cap energy stocks.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand index closed at 813.60 points, up 21.89 points, in modest trade worth 13.09 billion baht. Energy stocks gained 4.77%, banks 1.94% and property 2.66%.

PTT Plc led trade, gaining 16 baht to 346, while PTTEP rose 11 baht to 148 and Banpu jumped 24 to 382 baht.

Supakorn Sujirattanavimol, a senior analyst at KTB Securities, said investors returned to invest in big-cap energy and bank stocks following recent sell-offs.

''Trading volume was thin while the SET index surged strongly. It shows that investors are coming in for short-term gains,'' she said.

Ms Supakorn said some investors were also speculating on the results of tomorrow's election and the shape of the next government.

In a related development, the Association of Investment Management Companies (AIMC) plans talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish guidelines for fund managers in cases where net asset values cannot be calculated precisely.

Last week's suspension of PTT shares, the largest by market capitalisation on the SET, created huge confusion among investors and fund managers, as equity funds and index funds were unable to calculate NAVs or buy and sell prices.

Maris Tarab, the AIMC chairman, said the suspension of PTT and the confusion that followed showed that a clear standard was needed for the industry.

Different fund managers adopted different strategies to cope with the problems. TMB Asset Management suspended trade of its equity and index funds on Friday, while UOB Asset Management, Ayudhya Fund Management and ING Funds did the same on Monday. Others accepted sell orders from unitholders but delayed clearing and settlement until PTT shares resumed trade.

PTT, which accounts for 16% of the SET's capitalisation, was suspended from Friday until Tuesday afternoon due to the Supreme Administrative Court ruling that turned back a challenge to its privatisation but ordered it to return pipeline assets to the state.

Bangkok Post