Thai stocks seen range-bound, local funds may help

BANGKOK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Thai stocks may trade in a narrow range on Wednesday, buoyed by an influx of money from domestic mutual funds at a year-end period, but worries over suspended projects at a huge industrial complex would weigh, analysts said.

Certain funds that offer tax advantages to local investors often see a rush of money just before the end of the year.

Thai investors may put more in the so-called long-term equity fund and retirement fund since the government is offering tax breaks for as much as 1 million baht on these investments.

'Our market should generally get a boost from this fund money coming in at this time of year,' said Sukit Udomsirikul, a senior analyst at Siam City Securities.

'Having said that, a key theme that could still drag the market is the progress of the Map Ta Phut case. People might start taking profit after yesterday's rise,' Sukit added.

Resistance on the main index is pegged at 730 and support at 720, he said.

On Tuesday, the benchmark SET index rose 1.3 percent to 724.40 after hitting its highest since Oct. 21 of 725.40, led by a 2.2 percent rally in PTT after the cabinet agreed to support an appeal by 19 of the 65 suspended projects at Map Ta Phut, raising hopes for their projects to go ahead.

Local institutions, which include mutual fund and insurance companies, bought 1.02 billion baht of domestic stocks, according to the exchange's data, with foreign investors purchasing a net 739 million baht of the stocks.

A Thai court on Dec. 2 halted 65 out of 76 new projects at the estate, home to the world's eighth-biggest petrochemicals hub, because of their failure to carry out health impact assessments in line with the 2007 constitution.

Click for cumulative trading value by investor type.


----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 0201 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1118.02 0.36% 3.970
USD/JPY 91.55 -0.29% -0.270
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.7596 -
0.002
SPOT GOLD 1087.7 0.38% 4.150
US CRUDE 74.63 0.31% 0.230
DOW JONES 10464.93 0.49% 50.79
ASIA ADRS 125.96 0.71% 0.89

MARKET SUMMARY > NYMEX-Oil edges up ahead of EIA stocks data > US STOCKS-Wall St advances on optimism about housing sector > FOREX-Dollar in demand as yields attract, Kiwi skids > TREASURIES-Bonds fall as recovery hopes fuel risk appetite > Gold slides to 7-wk low, dollar hits 3-1/2-mo high



STOCKS AND FACTORS TO WATCH



- Thainox Stainless

South Korea's POSCO, the world's No.4 steelmaker, said it had failed to reach an agreement in talks with Thainox on the possible acquisition of the Thailand-based steelmaker.

POSCO's interest in Thainox had pushed up the Thai company's share prices some 72 percent so far this year.

On Tuesday, the share closed down 5.9 percent at 1.60 baht.



- Thailand's central bank governor held out the prospect that the record low interest rate of 1.25 percent could stay unchanged all through 2010 if inflation remained within the monetary authority's target range.



- Ch Karnchang

The second largest builder said it planned to sell 180 million shares in Thai Tap Water Supply for at least 4.15 baht ($0.125) each, worth a total of 747 million baht ($22.49 million).



- For the Thai press digest click on

- For Thailand's IPO diary click on

- For Thailand's stock exchange news click on

- For Thailand corporate earnings:

- For Thailand economic forecast:
($1=33.24 Baht)
(Reporting by Ploy Ten Kate; Editing by Martin Petty) * ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS: Pan-Asia........ Japan....... S.Korea... S.E. Asia....... Hong Kong... Taiwan.... Australia/NZ.... India....... China..... * OTHER MARKETS: Wall Street .... Gold ....... Currency.. Eurostocks..... Oil ........ JP bonds... ADR Report ..... LME metals. US bonds.. Stocks News US.. Stocks News Europe * DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Thailand diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead * TOP NEWS: For top Asian company news, double click on: U.S. company news European company news Forex news Global Economy news Technology news Telecoms news Media news Banking news Politics/General news Asia Macro data A multimedia version of Reuters Top News is available at: http://topnews.session.rservices.com * LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt Thai baht LME price overview Keywords: MARKETS THAILAND/STOCKS ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])) (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.