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Published on September 11, 2007

The Stock Exchange of Thailand expects listed companies from Vietnam to list on the Thai bourse next year after it signed a memorandum of understanding in Bangkok yesterday with the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange.

The SET Index yesterday closed down 0.58 per cent at 796.85, hammered by falling regional shares and a correction in Thai stocks, dealers said.

SET president Patareeya Benjapholchai said she expected Vietnamese companies to raise funds in the Thai equity market next year.

Under the memorandum, both bourses will encourage Thai-Vietnamese companies to list on the SET, which will continue to assist the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange with capital-market expertise.

Amata Corp recently said its subsidiary Amata Vietnam, in which it has a holding of 60 per cent, would soon list on the SET.

SET chairman Pakorn Malakul Na Ayudhya said yesterday that the exchange had provided IT expertise to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange for the third year and would continue the cooperation.

Meanwhile, Pakorn also said that yesterday's fall in the SET Index, which plunged almost one per cent at one point, was due mainly to correction. In addition, many companies had announced dividends but were currently posting XD (excluding dividend) signs on their stocks. Therefore, the overall sentiment was not very positive, the chairman said.

Sirinattha Techasiriwan, senior director of Syrus Securities, said the market had adjusted in line with regional markets as well as the US stock market, which was hit by poor employment figures for August. The fall in the US employment rate was the first in four years and added to concern about the country's sub-prime crisis and economic slowdown.

In addition, the depreciation of the US dollar against the yen to ¥112 had prompted operators who had borrowed yen from Japan to repay their debts.

Sirinattha said the SET Index had fallen less than previous expectations. She suggested medium-terms investors hold their stocks, while short-term investors should slow down their investment. She anticipates a support level at 790-780 and resistance at 795-800.

An analyst from Kiatnakin Securities (Thailand) echoed Sirinattha's view that overseas markets had had a negative impact on Thai stocks.

However, he recommended investors monitor results of the meeting between the US and Japanese central banks on monetary policy on September 18-19.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

 The Nation