Stocks Fall on Rumors
May 18, 2011
The Stock Exchange of Thailand index lost 27.06 -- the steepest fall since April 12, 2011 to 1022.68. About 91.3 million shares worth 5.23 billion baht changed hands. Declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks 353 to 45, excluding foreign shares. The SET 50 index, comprising the 50 most actively traded stocks, slipped 2.28 to 77.44. Dealers said the market fell on panic-selling, sparked by false rumors that at least four finance and securities companies were on the edge of bankruptcy. The Securities and Exchange Commission identified three of the four as ITF Finance & Securities, Adkinson Securities and Thai Fuji Finance & Securities. Stocks in the finance sector suffered the steepest decline, pushing the finance-sector index down 4.2%. Finance One, Thailand's biggest finance company, fell 4 baht to 97 baht a share in volume of 2.4 million shares. Adkinson dropped 3 baht to 27.25 baht with 621,500 shares traded. ITF lost 0.50 baht to 10 baht a share with around two million shares changing hands.
