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The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index at the end of August advanced to1,721.58 points, up 1.2 percent from the previous month with upward trend similar to most of the regional peers. The average daily trading value of SET and Market for Alternative Investment (mai) in August was THB 50.13 billion (USD1.52 billion), a 15.8 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Local institutional investors and proprietary traders were net buyers in August. Foreign investors were net sellers, however, the amount of selling was lower than Q2/2018’s.
SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said that SET Index's gain in August was in line with most ASEAN stock market indices. The Turkey's economic fragility has had less impact than the US Federal Reserve rate hike and the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. Moreover, the Thai economic growth for the second quarter, which was announced in August, accentuated that the economic momentum continued to gain pace, thanks to expansion in all economic drivers. Significantly, these were positive factors for the Thai stock market to keep going forward.
Key highlights for August
Securities market:
- In August, foreign investors sold a net THB 10.68 billion of Thai shares, which is lower than their average net sales in the first seven months of this year. However, foreign investors were net buyers in the Thai bond market in August due to the stability of Thai Baht compared to other emerging markets.
- SET Index ended August at 1,721.58 points, rising 1.2 percent from end-July but falling 1.8 percent from end-2017. Three industry groups that outperformed SET Index were Resources, Industrials and Technology.
- Forward P/E ratio of SET was 15.96 times at end-August, while historical P/E ratio was 16.98 times, higher than the average of the Asian stock markets at 14.14 times and 14.97 times, respectively.
- Dividend yield ratio of SET was 3.05 percent at end-August, above Asian stock markets' average ratio of 2.81 percent.
- A combined market capitalization of SET and mai at end-August was THB 17.7 trillion, down 1.3 percent from the end of 2017, moving in the same direction as SET Index.
- The average daily trading value of SET and mai in August was THB 50.13 billion, up 15.8 percent year-on-year.
Derivatives market:
- In August, the average derivatives trading volume declined by 11.1 percent from the previous month to 333,240 contracts per day, resulted largely from the fall in transactions of SET50 Index Futures and Single Stock Futures.
