Analysis & Opinion

BANGKOK Dec 15 (Reuters) — The Thai stock market rebounded late on Monday after falling to a seven-month low and suffering its biggest intraday percentage fall in six years as the slide in global oil prices hurt energy companies.

At its lowest on Monday, the benchmark SET index was down 9.2 percent, the largest slide since October 2008.

The index closed down 2.41 percent at 1,478.49. At Monday’s nadir, it was 1,375.99, the lowest point since May 23. Turnover was 102 billion Thai baht ($3.09 billion).

Emerging markets were volatile on Monday, suffering from sharp outflows of capital as the fall in global oil prices sparked pessimism about global growth, while expectations that the U.S. central bank will begin raising interest rates next year have fuelled a steady rise in the dollar.

International benchmark Brent crude hit a five-year low on Monday and has collapsed in the past six months as supply has outpaced demand amid lacklustre global economic growth.

Energy sector shares led the decline in Thailand on Monday as companies struggle to deal with weak oil prices.

The Thai energy sector index fell 4.09 percent, with Thailand’s largest oil and gas company, PTT PCL down 4.85 percent. PTT and its subsidiaries carry a combined market weighting of nearly 12 percent of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

Prices of PTT Group are weighing on the Thai market, said Teerada Charnyingyong, an analyst with Phillip Capital in Bangkok.

SUPPORT LEVEL BREACHED

The selling gained pace when the index broke through its support level at 1,500, Teerada said.

Kesara Manchusree, president of the SET, told reporters the regulator has no plan to take any measure to support the market after Monday’s sharp decline.

Thai retail investors buy more stocks on margin than ones elsewhere in Southeast Asia do, so they can come under greater pressure to sell when shares fall, one fund manager said.

The Thai market led regional declines, with the Malaysian index down 2.06 percent and Indonesia falling 1.01 percent.

Thai bank shares lost 0.50 percent, almost fully recovering from a drop of more than 6 percent in intraday trading. Top lender Bangkok Bank closed down 1.3 percent.

Bonds and the baht were steady. The five-year government bond yield was unchanged at 2.31 percent and the seven-year bond yield down 1 basis point at 2.59 percent.

The baht closed at 32.97/33.00 against the dollar, from 32.81/84 in early trade. (Reporting by Khettiya Jittapong and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Simon Webb and Richard Borsuk)