Small-stock transactions jump in 2012
Play
Combined transaction value of non-SET100 stocks and those listed in the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) accounted for 21.9 per cent of the Stock Exchange of Thailand's total turnover in 2012, the highest in five years.
Small stocks on the SET’s main trading board enjoyed turnover of Bt942 billion, up 98.1 per cent from 2011. Stocks in the second-tier MAI also enjoyed a 43.7-per-cent increase in transaction value.
The data were released amid concerns of a bubble in the stock market as a result of quantitative easing in developed markets.
Excluding newly listed stocks, 152 companies saw their share prices hit record highs during the year, mostly those listed in the MAI (food and beverages, real estate, medical and publishing).
“Investment flew to small stocks with and without strong fundamentals,” said Chanitr Charnchainarong, head of the SET’s issuer and listing group. “Many stocks’ prices were up more than 100 per cent despite losses.”
The stock market continued this heyday in the first week of 2013. While the SET Index rose 1.78 per cent, the MAI Index went up by 1.35 per cent. Daily transaction value averaged at Bt45.7 billion, the highest in nine years.
Stocks in the SET50, which have historically dominated 70 per cent of total transactions, accounted for 51.35 per cent during the week. Turnover of non-SET100 stocks accounted for 21.07 per cent.
