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The Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX), under The Stock Exchange of Thailand group, announced that 2013 average daily trading volume jumped 55.2 percent from a year earlier to 68,017 contracts, mainly driven by a 2.9 times jump in stock futures. In 2014, TFEX planned to implement its new trading system, boost liquidity and build its quality investor base.
TFEX Managing Director Kesara Manchusree said that total trading volume in 2013 was 16,664,126 contracts, or 68,017 contracts per day, up from 43,823 contracts per day from the previous year. Most of the derivatives contracts traded were stock futures, up 288 percent to 34,351 contacts per day. SET50 futures rose 41 percent to 23,218, while gold futures dropped 39.4 percent to 9,009 and USD futures decreased 64.5 percent to 977 contracts per day. The average daily trading value was THB26.97 billion (approx.USD817 million). Meanwhile, total derivatives trading accounts reached 87,693 accounts.
“Due to the volatility of indices and stock prices in 2013, stock futures and SET50 futures became popular for risk management. In addition, investors were able to manage their portfolios more efficiently after TFEX amended stock futures’ rules by increasing position limits and reducing the minimum size required for block trade transaction of high notional-valued contracts. Also, TFEX added additional underlying securities for stock futures, to make a total of 60,” Kesara added.
TFEX plans to improve its current products and services, especially SET50 index futures and options, in order to increase liquidity in 2014. Starting this February, USD futures holders will be able to receive physical US dollars on the last trading day at Krung Thai Bank. To continue to improve and expand quality investor, TFEX will continue to develop its existing projects, such as the TFEX Challenge, an intensive trading simulation; TFEX Open House, an intensive seminar for technical analysts, and cooperate with other finance organizations to present other financial instruments for currency risk management. Moreover, the new trading and clearing system for derivatives is expected to go live in May, Kesara concluded.
