Soraphol Tulayasathien, Senior Executive Vice President – The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index ended 2018 at 1,563.88 points, down 10.8 percent from end-2017, while the average daily trading value of SET and Market for Alternative Investment (mai) in 2018 surged 15.1 percent to THB 57.67 billion (USD 1.75 billion). Local institutional and retail investors were net buyers of Thai shares in 2018.

SET Senior Executive Vice President Soraphol Tulayasathien said that SET index in 2018 was weighed down by external factors, while the Thai economic fundamental remained robust and the growth outpaced a year earlier. Foreign investors’ selling spree in Thai shares was in tandem with most Asian stock markets. However, the Thai bourse’s average daily trading value in 2018 rose from the preceding year, with the year-on-year increase in the first three quarters before dropping in the fourth quarter, in line with most ASEAN markets as investors turned to be more cautious on global capital market investment amid the global trade disputes.

• SET Index ended December at 1,563.88 points, down 10.8 percent from end-2017 and 1.6 percent from the previous month. Resources, Services and Financials industry groups outperformed SET Index.
• In 2018, foreign investors cashed out a net THB 287.7 billion, with the highest net sales in the second quarter before decelerating in the last quarter. Foreign investors’ sell-off in Thai shares was in line with most Asian peers.
• The average daily trading value of SET and mai in 2018 was THB 57.67 billion, up 15.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, recorded an increase specifically during the first three quarters before declining in the fourth quarter similarly to most ASEAN markets.
• Forward P/E ratio of SET was 14.60 times at end-2018, while historical P/E ratio was 14.75 times, exceeding the average of the Asian markets at 13.50 times and 14.30 times, respectively.
• Dividend yield ratio of SET was 3.35 percent at end-2018, surpassing Asian stock markets’ average ratio of 3.02 percent.
• A combined market capitalization of SET and mai at end-2018 amounted to THB 16.2 trillion, down 9.5 percent from the end of 2017, moving in accordance with SET Index.

• In 2018, the average derivatives trading volume jumped 31.5 percent from the previous year to 426,213 contracts per day, due to the increase in transactions of most products.