Recap: Political tensions following the House's speedy passage of the blanket amnesty bill cast a pall over Thai share trading. Whistle-blowing protesters hit the street as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra signalled that the ruling Pheu Thai Party would let the bill drop if the Senate rejects it.
The SET Index traded in a range of 1,389.79 and 1,438.89 points and closed on Friday at 1,405.03, down 1.7% on the week, on average daily turnover of 38.52 billion baht. Retail investors were net buyers of 4.32 billion baht and local institutions 2.7 billion, while brokers were net sellers of 489.76 million. Foreign investors continued their selling spree with a net position of 6.53 billion baht.
Big movers: Telecom shares led in turnover: JAS closed down 0.6% at 7.95 baht, TRUE slid 6.8% to 8.10 baht, and ADVANC sank 8.8% to 228 baht.
International Engineering (IEC), tops in volume, closed unchanged at 0.03 baht. Top gainer Superblock (SUPER) surged 17.4% to 2.84 baht. Top loser Rayong Purifier (RPC) slid 14.6% to 2.46 baht.
Newsmakers: US GDP grew by 2.8% in the third quarter, beating market forecast of only 2%. The upbeat data fanned investor concerns about an earlier-than-expected tapering of QE.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.25% to spur the tentative recovery.
- Standard & Poor's downgraded France's credit rating by one notch to AA, with a stable outlook. It said government reforms were not enough to raise medium-term prospects, and lower economic growth was constraining its ability to consolidate public finances.
- As protests against the amnesty bill spread, Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban gave an ultimatum to the government to withdraw the amnesty bill by 6pm today.
- The consumer confidence index hit an 18-month low in October at 76.6, from 77.9 in September, due to political uncertainty.
- BTS and TMB will be added to the MSCI Global Standard Indices, while 15 stocks _ ASP, CHG, CKP, CGD, DRT, DSGT, ERW KCE MBK MC M MONO NOK RS and TUF _ will join the MSCI Global Small Cap Indices, effective Nov 27. Three Thai shares _ MAI, FF and TK _ will be removed from the global small-cap indices.
- The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is warning of a possible natural gas supply disruptions between December and July due to maintenance shutdowns of gas blocks in Thailand, Myanmar and the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Development Area (JDA).
- SET-listed Group Lease Plc plans to acquire a microfinance company in Cambodia as part of its effort to boost overseas revenue to more than 50% by 2015.
- Krung Thai Bank is slowing down its microfinance business in a bid to curb non-performing loans, which have reached about 4% of outstanding loans of 1.5 billion baht from the division.
- Bangchak Petroleum is looking at the possibility of branching into mining and various types of renewable energy. BCP has a solar farm business with a combined capacity of 118 megawatts, but opportunities are limited given that no new solar farm licences have been granted since 2009.
Coming up this week: Thailand's Senate will debate the amnesty bill today. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) the same day will also deliver its ruling on the dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over Preah Vihear.
- Japan will release third-quarter GDP data on Thursday and the US will release jobless claims and trade figures the same day.
Stocks to watch: Asia Plus Securities recommends buying sound fundamental stocks when the market falls; its top picks are SCC, SRICHA, ASK and PTTGC.
Technical view: Asia Plus Securities tips support at 1,380 and 1,360 and resistance at 1,438 and 1,455. DBS Vickers sees support at 1,350 and resistance at 1,400.