Futures Focus

The SET50 Index closed last week at 944.42 points, a decrease of 7.31 points or 0.77% from the previous week. The most active SET50 Futures contract S50Z16 (expiring in December 2016) was settled at 945.30 points, a decrease of 5 points or 0.53%.

Global investors last week shifted their focus away from interest rates to the US presidential election, and were buoyed by Hillary Clinton’s debate performance against Donald Trump. However, markets sank on news that Deutsche Bank faced a fine of up to US$14 billion for selling dodgy mortgage-backed securities, and would cut thousands of jobs as its shares plunged. The Dow recovered 165 points on Friday, however, on indications that the Deutche Bank fine would be greatly reduced, closing at 18,308.15 points, an increase of 0.3% from the week before.

In Thailand, markets cheered cabinet approval of 17 sections of a new motorway between Bang Pa-in and Nakhon Ratchasima, worth 23.1 billion baht, out of a total of 40 sections worth 60 billion. Officials also expressed optimism that the US Federal Aviation Administration would upgrade its safety rating for Thailand next month. The SET finished the week at 1,483.21 points, down 0.6% from a week earlier.

On the TFEX, daily average trading volume was 393,922 contracts, a decrease of 88,222 contracts or 18.3% from the previous week. The most actively traded product was SET50 Index Futures with 1,054,355 contracts, or 210,871 per day. Total market open interest was 1,533,569 contracts, a decrease of 91,091 or 5.6%.