Saraichatt Kunjara Jirapaet asked Korn Chatikavanij what he thought was the reason for Thailand Stocks trading at such low valuations and what the government was doing to help correct that gap.

The event was opened by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavani and attracted over 1000 Thai business leaders, multinational executives and foreign investors, cementing the forum as a must-attend meeting for all key decision makers in the investment market.

This year’s event has, again, drawn an audience of top policy makers, business leaders and international investors to debate and discuss investment prospects for the year ahead.

The move is expected to boost purchasing power and demand in China and would also help to avoid inflation by pushing down import prices. However, the downgrade raised concerns again over European growth.

In corporate news, California Pizza Kitchen (NASDAQ:CPKI) shares closed 10.91% lower at $16.82 after the company gave a profit warning following weaker-than-expected sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed 0.08% lower at 10,422.41, the S&P500 (INX) closed 0.39% lower at 1,113.20, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) closed 0.90% lower at 2,289.09.

Crude-oil for July delivery was up 0.02%, or $1.10, to $8.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other energy futures, heating oil rose 0.8%, or $0.03, to $2.16 a gallon while natural gas rose 0.02%, or $0.11, to $5.09 per million British thermal units.

Crude futures were at their highest levels in nearly six weeks as China said it will allow the Yuan to appreciate modestly against other currencies. The move is expected to make it cheaper for the country to import oil.

Meanwhile, gold for August delivery rose $2.8 to $1,260 an ounce. In other metal futures, silver rose $0.18, to $19.36 while copper rose $0.10 to $2.99 a pound.

Gold was up, but trading was expected to be choppy for the metal, which has seen strong gains of late as the metal has served as a safe haven investment for traders.