Whatever political faction can form a government coalition will have little effect on Thailand's economic outlook because every party favours existing economic development policies, says the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
This means that large infrastructure investment projects and other crucial economic policies will continue to move forward, said SET president Pakorn Peetathawatchai.
According to the unofficial results released by the Election Commission last Thursday, the Palang Pracharath Party won more than 8.4 million votes, while the Pheu Thai Party gained 137 seats in parliament, 19 more than the PPRP (assuming 21 party-list seats for the PPRP).
Official election results will be announced by May 9.
Pheu Thai recently announced the formation of a seven-party coalition government with 255 MPs, vowing to stop the National Council for Peace and Order from returning to power.
The PPRP, meanwhile, said it would gather enough House of Representatives seats to form a coalition and then nominate Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as the next prime minister.
Mr Pakorn said Thailand's stock market has less volatility than in the past because there is a variety of investment products with a broad base of investors that can choose products to suit different market conditions.
He predicts volatility in the SET index to be insubstantial despite domestic politics or external factors affecting market sentiment.
On a year-to-date basis, the proportion of retail investors has declined to 36.5%, while that of foreign investors has climbed to 39.9%. Proprietary trading stood at 11.2% and institutional investors made up 12.4%.
According to the SET, retail investors' proportion in the bourse has fallen from 60-70% in the previous years to 41% as of year-end 2018.
The proportion of foreign investors rose to 36% from 20-25%, while proprietary trading accounted for 12% and institutional investors maintained an 11% ratio.
The bourse's survey of chief executives, meanwhile, indicated that net profits of SET-listed firms in the first half are expected to increase and firms will continue investing for the next 12 months.
SET senior executive vice-president Soraphol Tulayasathien said the survey gathered opinions from 117 SET-listed firms and the results suggested that 59% of chief executives expect their earnings to rise in this year's first half from last year's second half.
Half of chief executives also mentioned that they will increase their investments in provincial operations, and 48% will rev up overseas investments.
As of the end March, the SET index was up 4.8% from year-end 2018 to close at 1,638.65 points.
