MAI trading volume nearly doubles year on year while SET market cap soars 15 per cent

During the month, the SET’s market capitalisation expanded 15.37 per cent to Bt13.65 trillion from last year, while derivatives trading soared 115.07 per cent year on year to 74,321 contracts per day.
The surge in securities trading was driven by the improved earnings of listed companies in the first quarter of this year.
However, in April, the global economy recorded growth but still lacked stability. Even though the gross domestic product figure and employment rate in the US have improved, economic indicators in China and Europe showed signs of weakening. The Purchasing Managers Index in the US, China and Japan indicated their economies would likely experience a slowdown.
At the end of April, the SET’s main index closed at 1,597.86 points, up 14.79 per cent in the year to date, while its market capitalisation was Bt13.65 trillion (US$470 billion), increasing 15.37 per cent. The market valuation of the Market for Alternative Investment was Bt189.88 billion, rising 42.75 per cent so far this year.
Foreign investors were net sellers of Thai shares worth Bt19.83 billion in April. The first Thai infrastructure fund, BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund, was listed on the Thai bourse in April, raising Bt62.51 billion. This was the largest IPO in the Thai bourse’s history.

P/E RATIO RISES
Average daily trading for the Thailand Futures Exchange in April jumped 115.07 per cent year on year to 74,321 contracts per day.
The SET’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio for April continued to rise to 14.81 times from 14.40 at the end of March, while the MAI’s forward P/E was at 19.65 times, up from 18.65.
The dividend yield of the SET was 2.72 per cent and of the MAI was 1.45 per cent.
From January-April, the two markets’ combined average daily turnover advanced 102.48 per cent year on year to Bt61.82 billion. Trading among big-cap stocks increased from the previous month. Most of the increase in trading came from the commerce and banking sectors.
In April, foreign investors posted net sales of Bt19.83 billion, with average daily trading of Bt11.91 billion. From January-April, they posted net sales of Bt15.92 billion.
Listed companies raised funds through equity worth Bt69.61 billion, of which Bt64.34 billion was from the main bourse and Bt5.27 billion from the secondary market.
Most of the fund-raising, Bt62.51 billion, was from the listing of the BTS Fund. From January-April, the two markets’ combined fund-raising skyrocketed 143 per cent year on year to Bt95.47 billion. In April, average daily trading of derivatives on TFEX jumped to 74,321 contracts per day, a 115.07-per-cent increase year on year.
Most of the trading was in Single Stock Futures at 38,178 contracts per day and in SET50 Index Futures at 23,341 contracts per day.
The average daily trading in US dollar futures in April rose to 1,218 contracts from the previous month’s 768 contracts per day, due to heightened fluctuation in the foreign exchange market.