Futures Focus

The SET50 Index closed last week at 1,017.30 points, an increase of 60.05 points or 6.27% from the previous week. The most active SET50 Futures contract S50U13 (expiring in September 2013) was settled at 1018.50 points, an increase of 66.90 points or 7%.

The US stock market soared to new highs on Wednesday after the surprise decision by the Federal Reserve to keep its bond purchase stimulus plan intact. For months, investors had been looking to the Sept 18-99 Fed policy meeting and most had been expecting the Fed to pull back on its monthly bond purchases. US Treasuries posted the biggest one-day price rally since November 2011, with the benchmark 10-year yield closing at 2.706%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 147.21 points, or 0.9%, to 15,676.94 points, an alltime closing high. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% to a record of 1,725.52. The Dow slid 185 points on profit-taking on Friday to close at 15,451.09, a gain of 0.5% from 15,376.06 the week before.

The Thai stock market opened with major stocks in the green as investors expected the Fed to continue its QE policy, further fuelling the equity rally. The news was later confirmed on Wednesday and stocks climbed 3.5% on Thursday. The SET Index on the week rose 84.98 points, or 6% from the previous week, to close on Friday at 1,486.76.

On the TFEX, daily average trading volume was 69,223 contracts, an increase of 6,520 contracts or 10.4% from the previous week. The most actively traded product was Single Stock Futures with 191,619 contracts or 38,324 per day on average. Total market open interest was 355,593 contracts, an increase of 8.93%.