SET President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said that SET Index's gain in September was in tandem with large Asian stock market indices namely Japan, China and Singapore, thanks largely to Thailand's robust economic fundamental that prompted upgrade in economic outlook, the progress of public investment and the clearer general election timeframe.
Key highlights for September
Securities market:
- In September foreign investors pulled out a net THB 7.67 billion of Thai shares, lower than their average net sales in the first eight months of this year at THB 25.14 billion. However, foreign investors were net buyers in the Thai bond market worth THB 54.2 billion in this same month.
- SET Index ended September at 1,756.41 points, adding 2 percent from the previous month and 0.2 percent from end-2017. Resources industry group outperformed SET Index.
- Forward P/E ratio of SET stood at 16.34 times at end-September, while historical P/E ratio was 17.33 times, surpassing the average of the Asian peers at 14.1 times and 15.26 times, respectively.
- Dividend yield ratio of SET was 3.01 percent at end-September, above Asian stock markets' average ratio of 2.83 percent.
- A combined market capitalization of SET and mai at end-September was THB 18.1 trillion, rising 1 percent from the end of 2017, moving in line with SET Index.
- The average daily trading value of SET and mai in September was THB 58.17 billion, down 6.5 percent from a year earlier. The average daily trading value for the nine months from January to September totaled THB 61.48 billion, increasing from THB 50.11 billion the same period a year earlier.
Derivatives market:
- In September, the average derivatives trading volume soared 50.6 percent from the previous month to 501,840 contracts per day, mainly driven by the surge in transactions of SET50 Index Futures and Single Stock Futures due to SET50 Index's high volatility.
- During January to September, the average daily trading volume also rose from 324,217 contracts the same period a year earlier to 443,262 contracts a day.