The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index reached a 14-year high, reflecting the confidence of both Thai and foreign investors in Thai listed firms, which have remained strong and yielded satisfactory returns.
“The SET Index closed at 1,003.24 on November 1, 2010. On a year-to-date basis, this index has soared 36% in terms of Thai baht and 52% in terms of US dollars. This rate of increase was the highest in the region (in USD terms), and showed that investors have strong confidence in SET-listed firms, which are still able to give them attractive returns,” noted SET President Charamporn Jotikasthira.
The sustained increase which led to breaking the 1,000-point mark was due to the firms’ focus on continual development. While the SET Index was rising, other measures of SET activity reached all-time highs: (a) daily average trading value reached THB26.95 billion (approx.USD898.59million), showing the high liquidity of the SET; (b) the bourse’s market capitalization reached THB8.06 trillion as of October 15 (approx. USD268.456 billion), equal to 84% of Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP), and (c) the number of active accounts rose to 178,000 accounts in September. If we include all accounts both direct and indirect investment (via mutual, provident, social security, and government pension funds, there will be over 15 million accounts).
Moreover, derivatives trading volume reached an all-time high at 17,630 contracts per day (as of October 29).
The rise in the SET Index pushed the SET P/E ratio to 15.40 times (as of October 29), which is good for listed firms, as they can raise funds at low costs and therefore is a factor attracting more companies to list. Firms listed on SET showed their strong fundamentals, as net profits rose in every industry group, with 34% and 24% jumps in net profits and sales, respectively, in H1/2010 over the same period last year. Meanwhile, Q3/2010 performance of the banking sector (before financial accounts were reviewed) showed net profits of THB30.14 billion (approx. USD1.00 billion), the highest since Q2/2001.