Futures Focus

The SET50 Index closed last week at 1,071.18 points, a decrease of 46.67 points or 4.17% from the previous week. The most traded SET50 Futures contract S50N18 (expiring in July 2018) was settled at 1,073.90 points, a decrease of 44.8 points or 4%.

US stock markets moved sharply lower last week as the trade war involving the US, China and the EU intensified. A US Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that will allow states to collect sales tax from online retailers also dampened sentiment. However, the Dow rallied on Friday, led by energy shares, after Opec and its allies agreed to increase production in the face of higher oil demand. The blue-chip index gained 119 points to finish the week at 24,580.89 but was still down 2.1% from 25,090.48 the week before.

The Thai stock market stayed in negative territory as investor concern mounted over a global trade war, and the baht continued to weaken against the US dollar. Foreign funds continued to pour out, with net selling for June reaching 45.19 billion baht. The SET inched up 0.54 points on Friday to finish the week at 1,634.98 but was down 4.1% from 1,704.82 the week before. It was the worst weekly decline of the year.

On the TFEX, daily average trading volume was 593,742 contracts, an increase of 252,094 contracts or 73.8% from the previous week. The most actively traded product was Single Stock Futures with 1,463,537 contracts, or 292,707 per day. Total market open interest was 3,116,585 contracts, a decrease of 393,939 or 11.2%.