The Stock Exchange of Thailand recorded a small gain in thin pre-holiday trade on Monday, ending a year in which it was one of the weakest performers in Asia.
The SET Index rose 1.62 points on the day to close at 1,579.84, a gain of just 1% from 1,563.88 at the end of 2018. The latter was a 10.8% decline from the year before.
Throughout the year the SET Index traded in a range of 1,543.22 and 1,748.15 points, with the highest close at 1,740.91 on July 1 and the lowest close at 1,548.65 on Dec 12.
Most Southeast Asian bourses recorded modest single-digit percentage gains in 2019, compared with double-digit increases for most of their peers across the rest of Asia Pacific. The Nikkei 225 in Japan, the Shanghai Composite index and equity markets in Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan all saw gains of more than 20% from 2018.
Even the Hang Seng has managed a 12-month gain of nearly 13%, despite the impact of the protests that have rocked Hong Kong for nearly seven months.
The Kuala Lumpur and Vientiane exchanges were among the few stock markets worldwide to end the year in the red, and the only two in Asean that did worse than Thailand.
On the SET, foreign investors were net sellers for the year of 45.2 billion baht worth of shares, compared with 289.9 billion in net sales in 2018. Local institutions were net buyers of 52 billion baht and brokerages bought 14.8 billion. Retail investors were net sellers of 21.6 billion baht worth of shares.
Southeast Asian markets rose on Monday, with Malaysian equities hitting a four-month high, as investor sentiment was buoyed by positive developments around the China-US trade deal that is expected to be signed next month.
As well, Xinhua News Agency reported that retail sales in China, the biggest trading partner of most Southeast Asian countries, were estimated to have increased by 8% in 2019. The figure was higher than some earlier forecasts.
Singapore stocks eked out gains on strength in utilities and industrials. Singapore Telecommunications climbed 0.9% on news that it is partnering with the ride-hailing firm Grab to apply for a digital full banking licence in the city-state.