SET HOPING FOR AN ELECTION-RELATED BOOST

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) ended December little changed from the month before, but down 10% annually after another disappointing year.

- 

However, election-related optimism should give shares a lift in January.

At the beginning of December, expectations for a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut pushed up global stock markets. A decision by Opec+ not to increase oil production in the first quarter of 2026 lifted oil prices by almost 3% as concerns about a surplus eased.

The Thailand-Cambodia border conflict flared up again on Dec 7, the Fed cut rates as expected, and the Thai general election was scheduled for Feb 8. The baht also strengthened significantly.

Meanwhile, the removal of big-cap DELTA from the SETESG index because of concerns about its high valuation affected some funds in which Delta had a large weighting, depressing sentiment on the SET.

However, in the last week of December, DELTA recovered and AOT also helped lift the index to 1,259.67 points, up 3% on the month but down 10% year-on-year. Average daily turnover in December was only 32 billion baht, down 5% from November and 10% on the year.