Bourse takes breather after rollercoaster week

The SET 50 Index Futures, the nearest contract month S50U08, expiring next month, was settled at 473.7 points, down 26.2 points, or 5.24 per cent, from the previous week.

The SET Index last week moved like a roller coaster the entire week. The index fell early on but retreated slightly late in the week.

Foreign investors still unloaded energy and bank stocks on concerns over lingering financial woes in the US, the possibility of the US govern¬ment pumping fresh funds into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that the selloff would ruin Thai and regional stockmarket sentiment.

Total weekly volume on the Thailand Futures Exchange was 31,576 contracts: 31,032 were SET 50 Index Futures and 544 were Index Options, worth a combined Bt14.9 billion.

Open interest TFEX contracts numbered 26,865 as of last Thursday.