Thai Stocks Strike 14-Year High

[george]

Thai stocks strike 14-year high

BANGKOK, November 1, 2010 (AFP) - Thai share prices closed at the highest level in 14 years on Monday, mirroring gains on most other Asian markets in the wake of upbeat Chinese manufacturing data.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index jumped 18.78 points, or 1.91 percent, to 1,003.24, closing above the 1,000-point level for the first time since November 1996.

Dealers said expectations of more pump-priming measures by the US Federal Reserve this week were supporting sentiment.

"This is a regional rally," said Wiriya Labpromrat, a senior director at Kiatnakin Securities. "Stocks are still the most attractive investment."

The Thai market has soared more than 36 percent so far in 2010, lifted by an influx of capital funds into fast-growing emerging Asian markets.

"We expected that the Thai index would pass the 1,000-point level this year... but it was a surprise that it happened a bit earlier than expected," said Wiriya.

The Thai economy has shown resilience following mass opposition protests in April and May which sparked violence that left 91 people dead, scared off foreign tourists and paralysed the retail heart of the capital.

Gross domestic product grew 10.6 percent in the first half of 2010 from a year earlier and, according to the central bank, is expected to expand by 7.3-8.0 percent for the whole of 2010.

Among major companies, Banpu gained 12.00 baht to 786.00, while PTT Exploration and Production added 8.50 baht to 179.50.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-11-01

[haveaniceday]

Thailand, welcomes money to come in, but almost impossible to take out of the country. Think a few people will be in for a shock when they cash out.

[chantorn]

Thailand, welcomes money to come in, but almost impossible to take out of the country. Think a few people will be in for a shock when they cash out.

Thaksin is one of them.

[Hardie]

So now the surge on Forex markets is explained...

[SantiSuk]

Don't listen solely to the one-sided doommongers inhabiting TV - they can seriously damage your wealth!

I invested £50,000 6 months ago in the UK investment trust (mutual fund) Aberdeen New Thai Investment Trust plc. In £ sterling terms it is up 40% and has been a great hedge against declining £/Thai exchange rates and one of my best quick returns in 30 years of investing. Of course I cannot say that until I sell the holding (which I can do in two minutes on the internet, so remarks earlier in this thread on getting money out are not comprehensively accurate). I was expecting to invest for the long term but that might be foolhardy in the light of the lightning rises.

I should sell now for absolute safety, but maybe there is a few more weeks before the QE2 steam runs out - famous last words! The markets worldwide are currently driven by banks and hedge funds borrowing money at 2% (courtesy of QE2 pumping cheap money their way) and investing in stocks with 5%+ returns, of which Thailand has a few. When this trend finally runs out then watch out for a severe downdraft on all markets and those gains will rapidly reverse.

I would not invest fresh money at the moment but strategically, investing in Thailand, either locally or through a dedicated Western mutual fund (of which there are very few I would guess), merits serious consideration for someone living here but relying on money coming in from say the US or UK. Only as part of a balanced diet of course.

When the big downdraft comes - next week or early next year, who knows, that may well be a great time to convert some of your falang assets into Thai assets to hedge against currency losses. You do not have to bring it into Thailand to do that if you don't like the divorce risk (medium, given reportedly favourable divorce maintenance settlement practices here) or expropriation risk (low) attaching to buying stocks/assets here; just use a non-Thai investment fund like the one I describe but ask the fund manager whether they are hedging the Thai baht - you want them not to do that.