STOCKS NEWS THAILAND-Banks in strong earnings cycle; BBL, Kbank top picks-Nomura

Thai banks are facing their best earnings cycle in 20 years, underpinning a significant re-rating of the sector, brokerage Nomura said, citing strong macro data in November such as business confidence and private investment.

"Strong macro data-points underpin our view that an investment cycle is developing effectively for the first time since the 1997 financial crisis, driving a corporate and SME loan cycle and a doubling of Thai bank profits from 2011-14F," it said.

Bangkok Bank Pcl and Kasikornbank Pcl had the highest corporate and SME loan exposures and were its top picks, the broker said in a report dated Jan. 2.

Its price target for Bangkok Bank is 262 baht while that for Kasikornbank is 230 baht.

Bangkok Bank shares were down 0.5 percent at 195 baht while Kasikornbank shares gained 1.3 percent to 198.5 baht. The broader banking subindex edged up 0.14 percent while the benchmark SET index was up 0.35 percent.

1433 (0733 GMT)

(Reporting by Viparat Jantraprap in Bangkok; Editing by Sunil Nair)