SET Index in March rose by 0.5 % from the previous month to close at 1,377.94 points, moving in line with the regional peers but the benchmark fell 2.7 % from the end of 2023.
SET senior executive vice president Soraphol Tulayasathien said at the end of March 2024, SET Index rose by 0.5 % from the previous month to close at 1,377.94 points, moving in line with the regional peers. However, the benchmark fell 2.7 % from the end of 2023. The industry groups that outpaced SET Index when compared with the end of 2023 were consumer products, services, financials, and resources.
SET’s and Market for Alternative Investment (mai)’s average daily trading value in March 2024 dropped 30.2 % from a year earlier to 42.78 billion baht (approx. US$ 1.17 billion).
Foreign investors turned to sell Thai shares with a net 41.24 billion baht in the month, constituting their net sales of 68.86 billion baht for the three months to March. Foreign investors’ trading ratio was higher than any other types of investors for 23 consecutive months.
He said the global economic growth deceleration is looming, but it has not yet entered a recession. Monetary policy divergence is apparent after inflation has not been eased as much as expected. According to the latest US labor market’s readings, non-farm payroll is still healthy while unemployment rate remains at a low level, resulting in the slower-than-expected decline in inflation.
Even though the Federal Reserve (Fed) sees rate cuts on the horizon, investors are increasingly concerned that Fed pivot could be delayed and the baht’s downside bias remains intact, accordingly. Moreover, offshore fund outflows from the equity market, particularly big-cap stocks, are expected to continue but small to mid-cap stocks are increasingly catching investors’ eyes.
The Chinese National People’s Congress in March set a 5 % economic growth target for the year 2024. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in March expanded to 50.8 from 49.1 in February, beating analysts’ forecasts and reaching the highest level since March 2023, which was the period after the strict COVID-19 measures were lifted.
Rebound of the world’s second largest economy will come as a boon to Thailand’s export and service sectors, helping the domestic consumption recover at a faster pace. Consequently, analysts started to raise profit forecasts of related businesses and their share prices yielded higher returns than the market’s average.
Reference : SET
