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Baht/$ 33.50/55
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GOLD |
14,450
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MARKETS
Nuntawun Polkuamdee & DARANA CHUDASRI
Thai stocks gained 0.96% yesterday as investors shrugged off the conviction of Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra for tax evasion to focus on a global rebound in oil and coal prices.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand index closed at 676.32 points, up 6.42, in trade worth 12.88 billion baht. Energy stocks gained 3.36% and banks 0.08% while property lost 1.1%.
Political uncertainties increased another notch yesterday after the Criminal Court found Khunying Potjaman, the wife of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and her brother Bhanapot Damapong guilty of colluding to evade payment of taxes in 1997 through a complicated share transfer involving the family's flagship telecom business.
But analysts said investors mostly shrugged off the verdict, seeing that further appeals are inevitable.
Kosin Sripaiboon, the research manager at UOB Kay Hian Securities, said energy stocks led by PTT Plc, PTT Exploration and Production and Banpu rebounded with global oil prices.
Bank stocks also posted modest gains following strong second quarter earnings reports.
"The SET index could see a short-term rebound, although worries about the US economy and financial sector remain present and certainly domestic political risk is rising with these verdicts," Mr Kosin said.
Ronnakrit Sarinwong, a research manager at Adkinson Securities, said global market sentiment was generally higher with reports that the US Federal Reserve would pump more liquidity into the markets to aid US financial institutions.
Reports that Virabongsa Ramangkura, a former finance minister and deputy prime minister, had been named chairman of an economics advisory team for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej also helped boost sentiment, Mr Ronnakrit said.
For the short term, oil prices and local politics would continue to dictate market trends, he said.
Meanwhile, Patareeya Benjapolchai, the SET president, said the exchange aimed to double market capitalisation to 12 trillion baht by 2013.
A new organisation structure approved this week by the SET board would also help reduce the exchange's cost-to-income ratio to 60% by 2013 from 100% now.
The new structure aims to boost customer services by combining functions into two new groups, an exchange function overseeing issuers, listings and post-trade services, and a Capital Market Development Fund responsible for market education, industry development and research.
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