Futures Focus

The SET50 Index closed last week at 1,116.46 points, a decrease of 12.20 points or 1.1% from the previous week. The most traded SET50 Futures contract S50U18 (expiring in September 2018) was settled at 1,108.10 points, a decrease of 18.40 points or 1.63%.

US stocks began the week lower on Monday as worries over Turkey’s currency plunge pressured markets, while rocky US trade relations with China and others remained a concern. However, sentiment improved on Thursday, with the Dow having its best day within four months, after Beijing and Washington announced plans for trade talks later this month. The Dow jumped 1.6% on the day and the rally continued on Friday with the blue-chip index gaining 110 points to finish the week at 25,669.32, an increase of 1.4% from 25,313.14 the week before.

In Thailand, the SET index was pushed down by international factors including contagion fear from Turkey. But shares rallied on Friday on news of new US-China talks, despite a return of foreign selling. Foreigners were net sellers of 8 billion baht for the week but have a net-buy position of 1.47 billion this month. The SET rose 9.08 points on Friday to finish the week at 1,690.04, a decrease of 0.9% from 1,705.96 the week before.

On the TFEX, daily average trading volume was 363,710 contracts, an increase of 24,836 contracts or 7.3% from the previous week. The most actively traded product was SET50 Futures with 704,764 contracts. Total market open interest was 2,560,346 contracts, a decrease of 47,833 or 1.8%.