Thailand Futures Exchange’s Trading Volume Up 63 Pct In First 9 Months

Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX), under The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) group, revealed a 63 percent increase in its average daily derivatives trading volume in the first nine months of this year to 71,649 contracts, from 43,823 contracts in 2012, underpinned by the increasing popularity of stock futures and SET50 Futures.
     
TFEX Managing Director Kesara Manchusree said that TFEX’s total trading volume was 13,183, 321 contracts for the first nine months of this year. The volume growth stemmed from a 297 percent surge of stock futures and a 52 percent rise of SET50 Futures. The average trading value was THB 29.43 billion (approx. USD 949 million) per day, up 34 percent from a year earlier when it traded at THB 22.04 billion.
  
Stock futures is the most popular product in TFEX. Currently there are 60 underlying stocks and a trading volume of 35,103 contracts per day, nearly triple last year’s trading volume of 8,849 contracts. This rise in trading volume is in line with an increase in trading activity of the overall Thai stock market. As for SET50 Futures, the trading volume for the first nine month was 24,960 contracts per day, up from 16,467 contracts in 2012. The main reason for the increase in SET50 Futures volume is the increase in volatility of the SET50 Index. The SET50 Index fluctuate an average of 16 points per day for the first nine months, where in 2012, the average intraday fluctuation was only 9 points.
 
In the fourth quarter of this year, TFEX and Krung Thai Bank pcl will launch a new service for USD futures. This new service will enable USD Futures investors to exchange US dollar at any Krung Thai branch on the last trading day of the contract. This will help facilitate business owners to manage their exchange risk more effectively.
 
To promote and increase TFEX’s investor base, TFEX will hold a trading simulation competition via Click2Win, called “TFEX Challenge Competition,” and give away prizes worth more than THB 100,000 to the winners. This project is an addition to the training program “TFEX Challenge Academy”, held earlier this year and “TFEX Derivatives Star Team” to provide derivatives trading training for university students. Also, TFEX will organize a “TFEX Open House” to offer a comprehensive seminar for investors on October 12-13 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok. For more information, please visit www.TFEX.co.th