SET Senior Executive Vice President Soraphol Tulayasathien said the SET Index in March fared better than the regional peer average, notching up 6 percent from the preceding month, partly due to the COVID-19 vaccine distribution progress and state stimulus packages rolled out by several countries. Various sectors anticipated businesses to get back on track while institutional investors readjusted their investment portfolios from growth stocks to value stocks expecting potential benefits from post-COVID-19 recovery.
Key highlights for March
- SET Index rose 6 percent in March, with better performance than the regional peer average, while MSCI ASEAN Index decreased 0.6 percent.
- In March, several industry groups increased from the previous month. Comparing with year-end 2020, Financials, Agro & Food Industry, Industrials, Services, Consumer Products, and Property & Construction industry groups outperformed the SET Index.
- The average daily trading value of SET and mai surged 33.8 percent year-on-year to THB 95.92 billion (approx. USD 3.05 billion), recording Q1/2021's average trading value at THB 96.95 billion.
- Domestic investors continued to dominate trading, accounting for 48 percent of total trading. Foreign investors' net sales continued for the third consecutive month, albeit at a slower pace with a mere THB 87 million. During the first three months of this year, they were net sellers of THB 29.37 billion.
- In March, there was one new listing on mai. During the first quarter of this year, the fundraising value via IPO listed on the Thai bourse was the highest among ASEAN exchanges, mainly driven by the listing of PTT Oil and Retail Business pcl (OR).
- SET's forward P/E ratio was 20.4 times at end-March, while historical P/E ratio was 39.7 times, higher than the Asian peer average at 15.1 times and 24.1 times, respectively.
- Dividend yield ratio of SET was 2.42 percent at end-March, above Asian stock markets' average ratio of 2.30 percent.
Derivatives market
- In March, the average derivatives trading volume recorded at 621,604 contracts per day, a 42.6 percent jump from the previous month due to the increased trading activities in Single Stock Futures and SET50 Index Futures, including USD Futures.
Source: SET Corporate Communications