SET closes down 5.91 to 1,593.91

SET closes down 5.91 to 1,593.91

Thai stocks fell 0.4% on Friday as the plunge in world oil prices pushed down energy shares which account for about 20% of local market capitalisation.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index declined 5.91 points from Thursday to close at 1,593.91, an increase of 0.9% from the previous Friday. Turnover was 46.83 billion baht, with 24.3 billion shares traded.

Shares of the state majority-owned oil company PTT, the country's largest corporation, lost 1.8% and affiliate PTTEP lost nearly 5.2%. Together they accounted for 6.1 billion baht in turnover on Friday.

The declines were a response to the decision by Opec to leave oil production unchanged in an attempt to maintain global market share. West Texas Intermediate crude slumped to $67.75 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude touched $71.25 — both four-year lows. A week ago they were trading at $76.51 and $80.36 respectively.

Foreign investors were net buyers on Friday of 1.13 billion baht worth of Thai shares, bringing their net buying for the month to 11 billion baht. For the year to date they are net sellers of 8.8 billion baht.

Local institutions were net sellers of 2.6 billion baht. Brokers were net buyers of 710.5 million and individual investors were net buyers of 778 million baht. 

Crude oil and energy shares tumbled worldwide on Friday as the impact of Opec's decision rippled across the globe.

However, Japanese stocks rose after uninspiring economic data raised hopes that more stimulus was in the pipeline.

In early trading in Europe, France's CAC 40 was down 0.6%, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.8% and Germany's DAX slipped 0.7%. US shares were poised to fall as Wall Street reopened after the Thanksgiving holiday, with Dow and S&P 500 futures off 0.2%.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.2% to 17,459.85 while South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1% to 1,980.78. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1% lower to 23,987.45 while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 2% to 2,682.83. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.6% to 5,313.00. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines rose while those in Indonesia and New Zealand fell.

In Bangkok, the SET50 index of blue chips ended at 1,069.36 points, down 5.44, on turnover of 21.94 billion baht, and the SET100 fell 9.90 points to 2,365.39 in trade worth 28.52 billion. The SETHD index of high-dividend shares lost 10.30 points to 1,113.51, with turnover of 14 billion baht. The Market for Alternative Investment lost 5.26 points to 726.72, with transaction value of 6.65 billion baht.

In the currency markets, the baht weakened to 32.83 to the dollar compared with 32.76/78 on Thursday and 32.79.80 a week earlier.

The currency may weaken to 34 in 2015 on speculation that slow growth and interest-rate cuts to revive the stagnant local economy will trigger an outflow of foreign funds, said Amonthep Chawla, the head of research at CIMB Thai Bank in Bangkok.

In the debt market, government bonds advanced for the fifth month amid speculation the central bank will reduce interest rates to help arrest the economic slowdown.

The yield on the 3.875% notes due in June 2019 fell 33 basis points in November to 2.365%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the biggest drop since October 2011.

The economy expanded only 0.6% in the third quarter from a year earlier, after growing just 0.4% in the second quarter.

"A weak economy has boosted demand for safer investments in bonds," said Mr Amonthep. "Speculation is intensifying that the central bank may have to cut rates early next year if growth remains sluggish and lower oil prices ease inflation concerns."

Top 5 most active stocks

 

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Change

Baht

%

PTTEP

135.50

-7.50

-5.24

MTLS

11.70

-0.30

-2.50

PTT

383.00

-7.00

-1.79

SCB

196.50

3.50

1.81

TRUE

12.10

-

-

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