Foreign investors were net stock buyers in Thailand during August, bringing their aggregate purchases for the first eight months of the year to a net positive tally of US$63 million. From January through to June, foreigners had been net sellers of Thai equities.
Traders bought a net US$83 million in the Bangkok markets in July, having been net purchasers of US$437 million in July. The improvement in foreign sentiment followed the military coup in May, which had been preceded by several months of street protests and political uncertainty, which had combined to put investors off the country.
In August daily average trading value at the Thai Stock Exchange was US$1.59 billion, down from US$1.63 billion in July. August turnover showed an increase of 27.4% year-on-year.
Derivatives trading fell 4% % to 186,361 contracts per day in August, due to slightly reduced single stock derivatives volumes. In July, derivatives volumes had increased 257% from June.