The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index ended 2017 at 1,753.71 points – the year’s closing high, up 13.7 percent from end-2016, while a combined market capitalization of SET and Marker for Alternative Investment (mai) hit the fresh record high at THB 17.9 trillion (USD 542.4 billion), up 15.6 percent from end-2016. The average daily trading value of SET and mai in 2017 decreased by 4.6 percent to THB 50.1 billion.
SET Senior Executive Vice President Pakorn Peetathawatchai stated the Thai stock market’s highlights in 2017 were as follows:
- SET index ended 2017 at the year’s highest closing and just only less than one point behind the previous record closing high on January 4, 1994 (1,753.73 points).
- The combined market capitalization of SET and mai hit the new record at THB 17.9 trillion at end-2017.
- Foreign investors played an increasing role in boosting trading liquidity to the Thai stock market. Their average daily trading value last year accounted for 30.2 percent, up from 25.6 percent in the previous year.
Key highlights for December
Securities:
- In December, domestic institutional investors were major buyer in Thai shares, buying a net THB 104.67 billion, while foreign investors sold a net THB 9.04 billion. In 2017, foreign investors were net sellers at THB 26.1 billion, while being on buying spree in Thai bonds.
- SET index ended December at 1,753.71 points, up 13.7 percent from end-2016. Three industry groups that outperformed SET Index in 2017 were Industrials, followed by Services and Resources.
- Forward P/E ratio of SET was 17.46 times at end-December, while historical P/E ratio stood at 19.06 times. Both forward and historical P/E ratios of the Thai stock market were higher than the average ratio of its Asian peers’ at 16.10 times and 16.24 times, respectively.
- Dividend yield ratio of SET was 2.81 percent at end-December, above Asian stock markets’ average ratio of 2.47 percent.
- A combined market capitalization of SET and mai at end-December was THB 17.9 trillion, rising 15.6 percent from the end of 2016.
- The average daily trading value of SET and mai in December amounted to THB 51.5 billion, up 18.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, whereas the average daily trading value of both SET and mai in 2017 decreased by 4.6 percent to THB 50.1 billion.
Derivatives:
- In December, the average derivatives trading volume surged by 51.1 percent year-on-year to 391,640 contracts per day, largely driven by the increase in transactions of Single Stock Futures. From Jan – Dec 2017, the average daily trading volume also rose by 13.6 percent compared to the previous year to 324,217 contracts a day.