The bounce in Thai share prices over the past two days has brought some desperately needed new year cheer to a market that has nearly halved in value from last February's high.
Many investors, however, remain wary of the market, which may yet plumb even greater depths in the absence of concrete evidence to suggest the economy has turned around.
The SET Index yesterday climbed 11.82 points to 831.93, marking a 4.5 per cent gain in two days. Turnover was an unusually hefty 7.5 billion baht (about HK$2.28 billion).
Finance Minister Amnuay Viravan yesterday told a crowded meeting of the joint foreign chambers of commerce: 'I can detect a surge of confidence in the stock market . . . let us hope it is not just a two-day affair.' The new government's repeated assertions that it is getting to grips with the transition from a cheap-labour to a medium-technology economy has eased some investor worries.
Many want to see that the government is capable of transforming its honeyed words into tangible results.
'They have talked the talk, now can they walk the walk,' said Alex Pasikowski, chief dealer at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in Bangkok.
'The government has won a [public relations] victory . . . but our clients are still incredibly sceptical. Hardly any of them are willing to look at Thailand at the moment,' said George Morgan, head of HG Asia in Bangkok.