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Thursday 4 November 9:31 PM
Thai Shares End Dn;Higher Oil Price Prompts Pft-Taking-2-BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Thai shares ended marginally lower Thursday, in line with most regional markets, as a rise in oil prices overnight triggered profit-taking after the index's recent rally, analysts said. Buying in select stocks on hopes of improved third-quarter earnings, however, capped the index's downside, they said. "U.S. President George Bush's re-election has erased concerns about U.S. political uncertainty, but investors took this chance to cash in their profits as concerns over rising oil prices still loom large," said Pongpan Apinyakul, research director at Kim Eng Securities. The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index closed down 2.16 points, or 0.3%, at 639.13 points. The blue-chip SET 50 index was down 0.26 point, or 0.6%, at 44.65. However, the Market for Alternative Investment Index, the board for small capitalization stocks, closed up 3.80 points, or 2.1%, at 187.55. Decliners led advancers 178 to 113. Volume was 1.84 billion shares worth THB16.35 billion, compared with 2.14 billion shares worth THB17.19 billion Wednesday. Wednesday, crude oil futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $1.26 higher at $50.88 a barrel. (MORE) Dow Jones Newswires November 04, 2004 05:10 ET (10:10 GMT) DJ Thai Shares End Dn;Higher Oil Price Prompts Pft-Taking-2- Leading the index's decline was oil and gas conglomerate PTT, down 0.6% at THB171. Fixed-line operator True Corp. fell 6.3% to THB6.75 on profit-taking after recent sharp gains. Among active gainers, however, were the nation's largest refinery Thai Oil, which added 3.4% to THB45, and Sri Trang Agro Industry, which gained 6.2% to THB60, on expectations the companies will post strong third-quarter earnings in the middle of this month. Analysts said concerns about a possible escalation of violence in the Muslim-dominated south of Thailand also continue to weigh on the market. They expect the index to move between 633 points to 643 points Friday. -By Maytinee Wasumadee, Dow Jones Newswires; 662-266-0744; djnews.bangkok@dowjones.com -Edited by Sarah C. de Mesa
Dow Jones news delayed 20 minutes. Copyright 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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