Securities firms and futures traders are now free to include any type of futures contracts in their proprietary accounts, the Capital Market Supervision Committee said yesterday. The list had been limited to futures that have stocks, gold, crude oil, foreign exchange, interest rates and financial indexes as underlying assets.

Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala, secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the committee’s chairman, said the expanded list would allow traders to gain more revenue and reduce their dependence on commission fees.

However, they must submit monthly reports to the SEC and maintain sufficient capital for coping with associated risks.

via Futures trading expanded.

Thailand’s equity market bounced back strongly from the global crisis in 2009, with a total shareholder return (TSR) of 90.8% for the year against a 36% decline the year before. Ultra-lax monetary policies and massive public spending across the globe helped spur a quick turnaround from the worst global downturn since the Great Depression.

With economic pundits forecasting that Asian economies will lead global growth over the next few years, led by emerging giants China and India, it seems logical that investors will shift their funds to Thai and Asian equity markets in search of higher yields.