Foreign investors' holdings of Thai shares rose by 1.37% in the first eight months of 2024 to 5.18 trillion baht, with technology, financial and services the top three sectors attracting the most foreign investment, according to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
As of August 2024, foreign investors held more than 5.18 trillion baht worth of Thai shares, an increase of 1.37% from the end of 2023.
The value of foreign investors' shareholdings accounted for 30.8% of the SET's market capitalisation, which was 16.6 trillion baht at the end of August.
The top three sector holdings for foreign investors are technology, financial and services, with a combined value of 3.81 trillion baht, according to data published by the SET's research department.
Foreign ownership in the electronics component industry totalled 1.36 trillion baht, followed by banks at 754 billion, information and communication technology 666 billion, and energy and utilities 648 billion.
Some 75.2% of the shareholding value of foreign investors is in the MSCI Thailand index, similar to the corresponding period of 2023, noted the SET.
The top five foreign investors on the SET were unchanged from last year, with investors from the UK ranking first, followed by those from Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the US. Investors from the Netherlands ranked sixth, followed by Japan, Taiwan, France and Mauritius, respectively, noted the research.
"The SET anticipated the holding of foreign investors increased in September given that Thai share prices rose by 6.6% last month, with net foreign buying of 28.9 billion baht," said the bourse.
The SET said earlier foreign investors returned to buy Thai stocks at the highest level in 22 months in September, causing the baht to appreciate rapidly as global interest rates fell, attributed to risk diversification in emerging market stocks, clarity in Thai politics after the election of a new prime minister, and relatively strong Thai economic figures.
Daol Securities said the four most popular stocks for foreign investors in September, which continue to sell well, are Bumrungrad Hospital (BH), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS), CP ALL and Gulf Energy Development (GULF).