Thailand's top stocks reap gains on digital wallet rollout

BANGKOK -- As tens of millions of Thais on Thursday begin to register for a long-awaited digital wallet handout, the biggest winners from the 500 billion baht ($14 billion) initiative on the Bangkok bourse are shaping up to be a who's who of Thailand's largest conglomerates and richest families.

The prices of more than a dozen stocks, including food retailer CP All and financial lender Muang Thai Capital, have ticked up after each announcement about the digital wallet since the Pheu Thai party, which has championed the program, formed the ruling coalition almost a year ago. This has helped some outperform the Stock Exchange of Thailand's main index, which has fallen 15% in the past year.