Thailand Futures Exchange PCL’s (TFEX) 2017 derivatives trading volume continued to increase to 79 million contracts, or an average of 324,217 contracts per day, a 13.7 percent increase from the previous year, while investor trading accounts rose by 17,275. For 2018, TFEX focuses on improving quality of products and services and developing channels to serve investor needs and boosting trading liquidity.
TFEX Managing Director Rinjai Chakornpipat said that Stock Futures, which gains high popularity, dominated 60 percent of the total trading volume in 2017 as investors had better understanding in the product’s features and were able to utilize the product to enhance investment efficiency. Other active products were SET50 Futures accounting for 33 percent and Gold Futures making up for 5 percent. TFEX’s trading accounts at the end-2017 numbered 146,559, up 17,275 from the previous year.
According to investor breakdown by trading volume, retail investors accounted for 51 percent, institutional investors at 38 percent, while foreign investors at 11 percent. At the end of 2017, the open interest jumped by 46.5 percent from the previous year to 2,813,036 contracts.
TFEX has collaborated with members on marketing and education activities. Market makers also help enhance liquidity for the existing products including Stock Futures and SET50 Options as well as the new product, Gold-D, which was rolled out in September. TFEX also extended trading hours for all gold futures products to 11:55PM to help investors better manage risks and adjust their investment strategy to catch up with major gold markets,” Rinjai added.
For 2018, TFEX emphasizes in quality to bolster trading liquidity of the existing products, particularly in SET50 Options and RSS3D Futures, and developing products and services to meet investor demand and enable them to better manage risks including improving physical delivery feature for Gold-D, conducting a feasibility study to improve dollar exchange service for USD Futures, widening underlying assets of Stock Futures, and promoting Thailand Clearing House’s services by allowing investors to use securities as collateral. Moreover, TFEX continues to expand quality investor base by enhancing investor understanding on products, strategy and trading concepts through channels and tools deemed to be suitable with each customer group.