Thai stocks over the first nine months of the year generated returns of over 26%, ranking second best in the world after Turkey, according to data from Morningstar.

Kittikun Tanaratpattanakit, an analyst with Morningstar, said loose monetary policy by the US and other countries has helped push up asset prices across a number of markets.

He noted that the Thai SET has been a steady outperformer over the past several years, ranking among the top three global markets over the past one-, three- and five-year periods.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand index yesterday closed at 1,289.35 points, down 3.13, in trade worth 62.4 billion baht. The index has jumped 26.1% year-to-date and 6.79% over the past three months.

Emerging market debt, meanwhile, posted a 14% return in the first nine months of the year and an average 10% return over the past five years. Gold prices have also done well, with the London Fix Gold AM index up over 13% in the third quarter, while oil prices have rebounded 14% in the same period.

Mr Kittikun said local funds currently have some 2.4 trillion baht worth of assets under management, with steady growth recorded for all fund categories.

For equity funds, those focused on small and medium-sized enterprises generated a 13% return for the third quarter and 32.7% for the first nine months, compared with a 9.88% return for large-cap equity funds for the third quarter and 27.7% for the year.

In contrast, global equity funds posted a 4.77% return for the quarter, emerging market equities 5.12% and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan equity funds 4.1%.