Domestic funds speculate for profits on the back of buoyant SET
Thai funds are expected to sell stocks to take profits until next week thanks to a rising Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index, experts said.
From September to December 16, domestic institutional investors made net sales of shares worth Bt36.40 billion, Bt7.30 billion of which was in December alone.
Asia Plus Securities’ executive vice president for research Therdsak Thaveeteeratham said Thai funds were selling shares to take profits as the SET Index had risen sharply in the previous month, adding that sales of long-term equity funds (LTFs), super savings funds (SSFs) and retirement mutual funds (RMFs) cannot compensate for mass sell-offs of Thai shares this year.
“We expected domestic funds to speculate profit from shares until next week before buying back in the last week of the month to make window dressing,” he said.
Principal Asset Management's chief investment officer Win Phromphaet said both domestic and foreign funds made net sales in the first half of December.
He said domestic institutional investors took some profits after SET had risen from 1,200 points to 1,400 points to monitor various factors, while waiting to buy back shares later.
“We expect domestic funds to continue speculating on profits, but they will buy back shares again once the index falls to 1,400 points,” he said, adding that factors that would cause SET to face correction are the second Covid-19 wave in the US, European countries' lockdown and correction in the US stock market.
He has advised investors to buy shares that benefit from the global economic recovery, positive news of Covid-19 vaccine and countries reopening.
Krung Thai Asset Management's executive vice president Somchai Amornthum said investors speculated short-term profits as SET may face volatility in the last two weeks of the month from various factors, such as US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting and the Covid-19 situation.
"However, we expect SET to hit 1,600 points next year," he said.
