SET Senior Executive Vice President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said that SET Index in February moved in a tight range but managed to hover a bit higher from a month earlier, while almost all of the global stock markets fell on concerns that the US Federal Reserve will raise the policy rate at a faster pace than anticipated. However, the rate hike fear dampened only short-term sentiment as a rise in US inflation and economic growth, which could force the rate increase, came as a boon to international trades including Thailand's exports.
Key highlights for February
Securities:
- In February, foreign investors sold a net THB 41.3 billion of Thai shares, in line with almost all stock markets across the region and including the Thai bond market.
- SET Index ended February at 1,830.13 points, up 4.47 percent from end-2017. Two industry groups that outperformed SET Index were Resources and Industrials, respectively.
- Forward P/E ratio of SET was 16.55 times at end-February, while historical P/E ratio was 19.04 times. Both forward and historical P/E ratios of the Thai stock market outpaced the average ratio of its Asian peers at 14.90 times and 17.58 times, respectively.
- Dividend yield ratio of SET was 2.70 percent at end-February, exceeding Asian stock markets' average ratio of 2.42 percent.
- A combined market capitalization of SET and mai at end-February was THB 18.5 trillion, up 4.3 percent from the end of 2017.
- The average daily trading value of SET and mai in February amounted to THB 68.1 billion, up 30.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Derivatives:
- In February, the average derivatives trading volume dropped by 15.14 percent from the previous month to 433,599 contracts per day, resulting from the decline in transactions of Single Stock Futures.