Post by Fletchsmile on Jan 5, 2016 12:43:28 GMT 7
SET kicks off 2016 on a gloomy note
Published: 5/01/2016 at 05:30 AM
Newspaper section: Business
Thai shares started the year on a sour note, dipping almost 2% yesterday, as worse-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and escalating tension in the Middle East discouraged investors from holding risky assets.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index shed from the opening bell, and the selling pressure intensified in the afternoon session.
The main gauge tumbled 24.61 points or 1.91% to finish the first trading day of 2016 at 1,263.41 in moderate trade worth 30.8 billion baht.
The sell-off was seen in blue-chip telecom stocks as investors rekindled worries about a potential price-cutting war after Advanced Info Service Plc (ADVANC) rolls out its fourth-generation mobile phone service later this month.
ADVANC dropped 5.92% to 143 baht, Intouch Holdings (INTUCH) 4.81% to 49.50 baht, Jasmine International (JAS) 5.56% to 3.06 baht, Total Access Communication (DTAC) 6.61% to 28.25 baht and True Corporation 5.97% to 6.30 baht.
China's benchmark CSI300 share index tumbled 7% -- a level that triggered a trading halt for the rest of the day under a "circuit breaker" -- while the Shanghai Composite slumpd 6.86% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 2.68%.
The rout of the Chinese stock markets also sent tremors through other Asian bourses. Japan's Nikkei sank 3.06%, South Korea's main gauge 2.17%, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI 2.31% and Singapore's Straits Times Index 1.62%.
China's disappointing manufacturing activity, which prompted speculation the central bank would guide the currency lower to help the world's second-largest economy, also saw the offshore yuan slide the most since last August.
Currencies in other emerging markets were also softer yesterday. The baht depreciated to 36.14/36.16 to the US dollar from 35.98/36.00 last Wednesday.
Trinity Securities managing director Visit Ongpipattanakul said the SET was pressured yesterday by the steep fall in regional bourses, while there was no new positive catalyst to support the local market.
"However, the SET seemed to outperform its regional peers," he said.
Concern over a further rate hike by the US Federal Reserve is another drag for the global stock market, Mr Visit said, adding that investors were shifting their focus to seek cues on the rate direction from the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, slated for release tomorrow.
He expects the SET index will move sideways with a downward bias this month, with a significant support line at 1,200 points, the level he considers the entry point for investors.
Poranee Thongyen, research manager at Asia Plus Securities, blamed yesterday's steep fall in the SET index on institutional investors unloading.
Long-term equity funds' unitholders always redeem in the first two trading days of January, she said.
www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/815844/set-kicks-off-2016-on-a-gloomy-note
Published: 5/01/2016 at 05:30 AM
Newspaper section: Business
Thai shares started the year on a sour note, dipping almost 2% yesterday, as worse-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and escalating tension in the Middle East discouraged investors from holding risky assets.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index shed from the opening bell, and the selling pressure intensified in the afternoon session.
The main gauge tumbled 24.61 points or 1.91% to finish the first trading day of 2016 at 1,263.41 in moderate trade worth 30.8 billion baht.
The sell-off was seen in blue-chip telecom stocks as investors rekindled worries about a potential price-cutting war after Advanced Info Service Plc (ADVANC) rolls out its fourth-generation mobile phone service later this month.
ADVANC dropped 5.92% to 143 baht, Intouch Holdings (INTUCH) 4.81% to 49.50 baht, Jasmine International (JAS) 5.56% to 3.06 baht, Total Access Communication (DTAC) 6.61% to 28.25 baht and True Corporation 5.97% to 6.30 baht.
China's benchmark CSI300 share index tumbled 7% -- a level that triggered a trading halt for the rest of the day under a "circuit breaker" -- while the Shanghai Composite slumpd 6.86% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 2.68%.
The rout of the Chinese stock markets also sent tremors through other Asian bourses. Japan's Nikkei sank 3.06%, South Korea's main gauge 2.17%, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI 2.31% and Singapore's Straits Times Index 1.62%.
China's disappointing manufacturing activity, which prompted speculation the central bank would guide the currency lower to help the world's second-largest economy, also saw the offshore yuan slide the most since last August.
Currencies in other emerging markets were also softer yesterday. The baht depreciated to 36.14/36.16 to the US dollar from 35.98/36.00 last Wednesday.
Trinity Securities managing director Visit Ongpipattanakul said the SET was pressured yesterday by the steep fall in regional bourses, while there was no new positive catalyst to support the local market.
"However, the SET seemed to outperform its regional peers," he said.
Concern over a further rate hike by the US Federal Reserve is another drag for the global stock market, Mr Visit said, adding that investors were shifting their focus to seek cues on the rate direction from the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, slated for release tomorrow.
He expects the SET index will move sideways with a downward bias this month, with a significant support line at 1,200 points, the level he considers the entry point for investors.
Poranee Thongyen, research manager at Asia Plus Securities, blamed yesterday's steep fall in the SET index on institutional investors unloading.
Long-term equity funds' unitholders always redeem in the first two trading days of January, she said.
www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/815844/set-kicks-off-2016-on-a-gloomy-note
