BEC Debut Boosts Market
March 30, 2011
The Stock Exchange of Thailand index rose 7.46 to 1179.84. About 76.3 million shares valued at 7.16 billion baht changed hands, compared with 54.3 million shares worth 3.37 billion baht Wednesday. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining stocks 185 to 117, excluding foreign shares. Dealers attributed active trading mostly to investors' interest in BEC World, which began trading on the exchange Thursday. The company, which operates the Channel 3 television station, recently completed the country's biggest initial public offering of the year, selling 20 million shares. ``Trading on BEC World alone accounted for as much as 40% of the total volume today,'' said Kephart Drain, an analyst at Bangkok First Investment and Trust PCL. ``Active buying on BEC World helped turn sentiment positive and brought investors back to the market.'' BEC World closed at 280 baht a share with 10.5 million shares traded. The stocks opened Thursday at 250 baht a share, up 76% from its initial public offering price of 142 baht.
