Analysts give rosy outlook for Thai stocks in 2013

BANGKOK, January 1 (TNA) - Thailand’s stock market would continue to advance in 2013, despite some possible fallout from domestic political problems, analysts say. Sombat Narawuttichai, secretary-general of Securities Analysts Association, agreed the SET index in 2013 would continue to rise from post-2012, saying it could reach its peak at 1,537-points. Sombat warned however, the figure could fall below 1,300-points from three likely factors, including political problems stemming from the government’s move to amend the constitution, the European debt crisis and the U.S. financial crisis. The SET index closed at 1,391.93 points on its last trading day on December 28, with a turnover value of about 34.6 billion baht. In his endnote, Sombat said if the SET index declines, investors could turn to strong fundamental stocks whose businesses are related to overseas such as communications and banking for accumulation purposes. He also suggested investing 45 percent in shares, 17 percent on purchase of debt instruments, 13 percent on deposits, 11 percent on gold and 3 percent on property funds. (TNA)