The Thai stock market on Thursday rose for the first time this week as the country’s embattled prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, rejected calls to resign.

By late afternoon in Bangkok the Stock Exchange of Thailand index was 0.6 per cent higher at 654.06. It had fallen by 1.2 per cent in the first 15 minutes of trading to its lowest level since January 2007 and looked set to wipe out the almost 50 per cent gains made during last year’s bull market.