CIMB units raises its forecast to SET return to 15-30%
Given excess global liquidity and a relatively stable political environment at home, the Stock Exchange of Thailand could see a return of 15-30 per cent this year, according to CIMB-Principal Asset Management.
This new estimate is higher than the return of 15-20 per cent projected at the end of last year, said Jessada Sookdhis, chief investment officer for CIMB-Principal Asset Management.
Currently, the Thai stock market is neither cheap nor expensive at the forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12 times, Jessada said.
Thai stocks could become more expensive if concern over the European debt problem continues to ease, US economic figures continue to improve and China’s gross domestic product continues to grow at 7-8 per cent this year, he said.
“Foreign funds continue to support the Thai stock market,” he said. There is little chance for the bourse to enter a downward trend, but some technical corrections may be seen.
CIMB-Principal Asset Management has announced an initial public offering of the Bt5-billion CIMB-Principal Daily Income Fund from March 30 to April 5.
The fund has three classes of investment from which investors can choose: accumulation, auto-redemption and dividend. The minimum purchase is Bt1,000.
The open-ended fund will invest in domestic and foreign fixed income. It will invest no more than 79 per cent of net asset value in foreign fixed income.
“We have two money-market funds and we are confident that the return on CIMB-Principal Daily Income will yield no less than its peers,” said Jerdphan Nithyayon, the firm’s executive vice president.
Jessada said this fund was appropriate for liquidity management, noting that average yield during one to three months for this kind of fund was about 3 per cent.
