Robust October despite floods
Foreign investors swung to become net buyers in the Thai bourse, worth Bt30.84 billion, due mainly to a clearer resolution of the EU's debt crisis.
Over the past two months, foreign investors had been net sellers. However, they were still net sellers of Bt4.78 billion in the first 10 months. Banking and petrochemical stocks were the gainers while information technology and communication stocks were losers.
However, so far in November, foreign net-sells amounted to over Bt5 billion.
“The Stock Exchange of Thailand attributed that to the brighter market outlook. Despite floods, investors were psychologically boosted by rescue measures in the euro zone and improvement in US economic indicators,” said Tientip Subhanij, director for Capital Market Research Institute of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
The SET market capitalisation at the end of October showed a 6.46-per-cent increase from the previous month, to Bt7.987 trillion. The SET Index rose 6.39 points to 974.75 points.
The average daily turnover of SET and its second-tier bourse, the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI), was Bt26 billion, down 2.82 per cent from the previous month. However, the average daily turnover in the first 10 months was above last year’s, at Bt29 billion.
Forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) ratio as at the end of October was at 11.21 times, up from 10.35 times in the previous month. The MAI’s P/E ratio was at 8.63 times as of the end of October, down from 8.77 per cent at the end of the previous month. However, SET showed a 4.13-per-cent market dividend yield, which was in the same direction as other stock markets.
Tientip expected that the revenue of more than 400 listed companies in the first nine months would increase by 21 per cent to Bt510 billion, with Bt210 billion coming in the third quarter. Combined revenue in the first nine months would be Bt6 trillion.
Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) average daily trading volume fell to 50,531 contracts in October, down 20.79 per cent from the previous month, with volumes of SET50 Index options and gold futures all declining in the month. However, the trading volume of SET50 Index futures hit a record high in October since it started trading.
Trading in the night session has shown good growth since it started operating in June. In October, the trading volume of gold and silver futures in the night session accounted for 38.53 per cent of the total trading volume of these two products.
