June 7, 2023
BANGKOK – The Thai stock market now has the third-highest fund outflows in the world this year amid massive sell-offs following the election, according to brokerage firm Asia Plus Securities.
On Tuesday, it said 100 billion baht in foreign funds had flowed out of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index since the beginning of the year – 41 billion baht over the past 18 working days.
The outflow shows that foreign investors still lack confidence in Thai stocks amid the government transition period following the May 14 election, Asia Plus said. “Fund inflow is unlikely unless this political transition is smooth,” it adds.
The Election Commission has until mid-July to ratify the results of the election, after which a government can be formed. The Move Forward-led coalition is seeking to form a government but faces legal and other challenges.
Asia Plus said foreign investors made net buys in Thai stocks worth 225 billion baht from January 1 last year up to January 27 this year. Since then, however, foreign investment has fled.
The Thai stock market is now ranked third among markets with the highest fund outflows at -8.8%, after Colombia (-13.1%) and Turkey (-10.0%).
However, the Thai market is expected to rebound in the remainder of this year on economic recovery and tourist arrivals, Asia Plus said. It added that Thai stocks could recover further once political uncertainty is relieved.