SET Market Report For March 2017

SET Index closed at 1,575.11 points, up 2.08 pct from end-2016.
Average daily securities trading value at THB 43.19 bln, down 17.83 pct y-o-y
Market cap at THB 15.8 trillion, a 2.01 pct rise from end-2016

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended March at 1,575.11 points, rising 2.08 percent from the end of 2016. Capital inflows to emerging markets in Asia propelled the Thai bourse, with foreign investors turning back to buy Thai shares last month and raising the first quarter net buy to THB 6.37 billion.

However, a string of important factors that erupted in March, including the US Federal Reserve’s rate hike, setting out Brexit plan by the UK, and China’s reduction of its economic growth forecast to 6.5 percent, as well as uncertainty over impacts from the US economic policy, are warranted close monitoring.

At the end-March, a combined market capitalization of SET and Market for Alternative Investment (mai) amounted to THB 15.8 trillion (approx. USD 451.43 billion), up 2.01 percent from the end of 2016. The average daily trading value of SET and mai in March totaled THB 43.19 billion, down 17.83 percent over the same period last year.

Key highlights for March

Securities:

SET Index ended March at 1,575.11 points, up 2.08 pct from end-2016.
Market capitalization of SET was at THB 15.49 trillion, up 2.73 percent from end-2016, while market valuation of mai was at THB 324.09 million, down 23.81 percent from end-2016.
Forward P/E ratio of SET was 15.46 times, while mai's was 37.26 times.
Dividend yield ratio of SET was at 3.13 percent at the end-March, while mai's was at 1.50 percent.
Average daily trading value of SET and mai fell 17.83 percent from the same period a year earlier to THB 43.19 billion, however, the January-March average trading value was at THB 50.87 billion, up 9.29 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Foreign investors were net buyers of Thai shares in March worth THB 3.92 billion, adding the net buy of THB 6.37 billion during Jan-Mar.
In March, SET and mai-listed companies raised funds through equity worth a combined THB 2.34 billion, consisting of THB 636 million from the primary market and THB 1.70 billion from the secondary market. For the first three months, the total fund raised was worth a combined THB 20.72 billion.

Derivatives:

The average derivatives trading volume was 321,556 contracts per day in March, and an average of 303,721 contracts for the first three months, rising 6.50 percent from the average daily trading volume in 2016, mostly from the increasing transactions of Single Stock Futures.

For more information, please visit www.set.or.th/setresearch .