Bangkok--21 Dec--SET
Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX) expects an improvement from yesterday’s plunge, as investors’ concerns should lessen after Bank of Thailand announced that capital inflows as FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and stock market investment would not be subject to the 30% withholding rule.
Trading on Dec. 19 on Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) was very active ending the day with 8,505 contracts and total turnover of THB 3,954.40 million. Prices of SET50 Index Futures had declined continuously since the market opening. Prices of index futures maturing in Dec. 2006 (S50Z06) dropped 10% during the morning session and touched the 20% level in the afternoon. Thus TFEX launched its circuit breaker system for the first time at 11:30 hrs., then halted trading for 30 minutes before resuming trading until the market closed. The SET, which is TFEX’s underlying market, also halted during the same period.
Local retail clients, representing about 59% of the market, were net buyers, while institutions (19%) and foreigners (22%) were net sellers. Settlement prices for S50Z06 ended at 450.4 (-12.2%), S50H07 at 461.9 (-10.59%), S50M07 at 454.7 (-12.12%), and S50U07 at 473.0 (-9.07%).
TFEX has been launched since April this year. The market has actively been educating investors about its products and opportunity, so that investors can effectively manage their investment and risk exposure. The ease on capital inflows should be beneficial to the development of Thailand’s derivatives market further.