Thai stocks seen rising, supported by foreign inflows

BANGKOK, May 7 (Reuters) - Thai stocks are expected to edge
higher on Wednesday, helped by continued buying from foreign
funds looking to snap up stocks with cheap valuations, analysts
said.

Energy shares .SETEN led by top oil and gas firm PTT PCL
PTT.BK, which have lagged their regional peers, should edge
up in step with world oil prices hitting another new record,
they added.

"Also, stocks benefitting from the government's economic
stimulus policy are still attractive," KTB Securities senior
analyst Charoen Iampattanatham said, referring to banks .SETB
and construction firms .SETCO.

Resistance on the main index .SETI was seen around 854
points and support at 831 points, he added.

On Tuesday, the benchmark SET index rose 0.32 percent to a
two-week closing high of 845.83 points. Click [TH/TRADING01]
for cumulative trading value by investor type.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 0125 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1418.26 0.77% 10.770
USD/JPY <JPY=> 104.86 0.11% 0.120
10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.9184 -- -0.004
SPOT GOLD <XAU=> 877.5 0.28% 2.450
US CRUDE CLc1 121.77 -0.06% -0.060
DOW JONES .DJI 13020.83 0.40% 51.29
ASIA ADRS .BKAS 168.49 0.93% 1.56
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARKET SUMMARY >Oil rockets to record $122 on dollar, supply
worry [O/R] >Wall St climbs with Fannie and oil; Disney up late
[.N] >Dollar dips on Fannie results, outlook certain [USD/]
>Short-maturity bonds gain on credit concerns [US/] >Gold
ends higher on record oil, outlook cautious [GOL/]

STOCKS AND FACTORS TO WATCH

- Esso (Thailand) ESSO.BK

Shares in Esso, a Thai unit of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz),
disappointed investors with a smaller-than-expected 5 percent
rise on their debut as concerns over refining margins
outweighed surging global oil prices. [ID:nBKK6165]

- PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK

The oil and gas exploration arm of top energy firm PTT PCL
said natural gas production at its two offshore gas fields in
the gulf of Martaban south of Yangon, Myanmar's main city, was
not affected by Cyclone Nargis. [ID:nBKK15358]

- Siam Commercial Bank SCB.BK

Thailand's third-largest lender, said it had fixed coupon
rates for its 20 billion baht ($631 million) of 10-year
subordinated debentures to be issued this month.
[ID:nBKK235055]

- Investors should be overweight Chinese, South Korean and
Thai stocks, while limiting exposure to the Philippines given
the risks posed by the country's high inflation rate, JF Asset
Management executives said. [ID:nPEK154563]

- For the Thai press digest click on [ID:nBKK309087]

- For Thailand's IPO diary click on <TH/IPOMENU>

- For Thailand's stock exchange news click on [TH-SET]

- For Thailand corporate earnings: [TH-RES-RTRS]

- For Thailand economic forecast: [POLL-ECI-TH-RTRS]
($1=31.71 Baht)
(Reporting by Arada Therdthammakun; Editing by Jacqueline
Wong)