Futures Focus

The SET50 Index closed last week at 1,192.49 points, an increase of 20.32 points or 1.7% from the previous week. The most traded SET50 Futures contract S50K18 (expiring in May 2018) was settled at 1,186.60 points, an increase of 17 points or 1.45%.

US markets fell from Monday through Wednesday as President Donald Trump signed an order to impose steel and aluminium import tariffs, hurting industrial stocks. The sudden firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised further concerns about policy stability. Also hurting sentiment was fear of a trade war with China, as Mr Trump threatened to punish intellectual property “theft” with tariffs on Chinese IT products. The Dow recovered to gain 73 points on Friday to finish the week at 24,946.51, a decrease of 1.5% from 25,335.74 the week before.

In Thailand, the SET index moved up for most of the week despite the impact of turbulence in Washington. Shares in media firms jumped after the Central Administrative Court ruled that digital TV firms have the right to give up licences they can no longer afford. However, shares dipped on Friday as international factors moved to the fore again. The SET fell 4.32 points to end the week at 1,811.76, up 2% from 1,775.37 the week before.

On the TFEX, daily average volume was 434,775 contracts, a decrease of 4,850 contracts or 1.1% from the previous week. The most actively traded product was Single Stock Futures with 1,317,307 contracts, or 263,461 per day. Total market open interest was 3,314,549 contracts, down 4,054 or 0.1%.