SET Falls On Rumor Of Shin Deal Reversal

[Jai Dee]

SET falls on rumor of Shin deal reversal

In the closing hour of trading Tuesday, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) suddenly dropped three points as fears mounted over a possible attempt to reverse the multibillion-baht Shin Corp shares deal with Singapore-based Temasek Holdings.

The SET finished the day at 738.36, down 1.66 percent, while the Market for Alternative Investment closed at 167.61, an increase of 0.37 percent. Combined market volume was low at 2.17 billion shares, with turnover at 12.13 billion baht.

Family members of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in January sold 73.3 billion baht worth of shares to Temasek without paying tax, sparking weeks of public outcry and political turmoil.

The anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) Tuesday afternoon submitted a letter to the Singaporean embassy in Bangkok, requesting the Singapore government end Temasek’s tender offer for Shin shares. If the tender offer is allowed to be completed on Thursday and Singaporean officials do not take action, the PAD has threatened mass demonstrations at the embassy. After the news reached investors, the SET dipped.

Shares in Shin fell 3.08 percent to 47.25 baht a piece, while its subsidiary Advanced Info Service dropped 1.55 percent to 95.50 baht.

The banking sector was hit hard today with Bangkok Bank, the country’s largest financial institution in terms of assets, tumbling 3.42 percent to 113 baht. Securities analysts said the fall in the sector was due to profit taking after banks enjoyed three months of positive performance on the bourse. The profit taking was sparked by political developments.

Source: ThaiDay - 7 March 2006