ICI continues dropping in Aug- lowest in 14 months

BANGKOK, August 11 (TNA) - Negative factors prevailing in Thailand currently continued to depress investor confidence index as it tumbled to 57.27 points in August from 98.28 points in the previous month, the lowest in the past 14 months, said Voravan Tarapoom, chairwoman of Federation of Thai Capital Markets Organisation. Ms Voravan said surveys conducted among every group of investors, securities firms, foreigners and retailers found that the Thai stock market was bearish and would within a narrow range the rest of this year. They had expressed their concerns over sluggish Thai economy and said accelerated government investment would help boost the domestic economy, she said. The government ought to assist farmers affected by the declining farm products prices and to help support businesses of small – and medium-sized enterprises until the national economy recovered. Stocks which are still attractive are those in the construction materials sector, awaiting investment by the state, while investors should avoid equities concerning iron and steel due to sluggish economy by China. Amornthep Chawla, head of CIMB Thai Bank’s Research Office, said that Thailand’s gross domestic product this year would grow between 2-3 per cent, down from 3.3 per cent last year, due to sluggish investment and domestic consumption. Thailand’s exports are affected by China’s economic slowdown while private investors find that the government’s planned investment in major infrastructure projects is still unclear, said Mr Amornthep. He said the Thai currency, the baht, would continue depreciating against the US dollar and would retreat to 36 baht per dollar late this year. (TNA)