Illustrative image. (Source: Bangkok Post)Bangkok (VNA) – Trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) was halted on March 13 morning, for the second straight day, as a circuit breaker was triggered after the country’s stock market fell by 10 percent, local media reported.
Trading was paused from 9:59am to 10:29am. This is the fifth time in history a circuit breaker has activated to curb excessive volatility on the SET.
The SET triggered a circuit breaker four times in the past to handle high-volatility trading.
The first was in 2006 when the Bank of Thailand temporarily imposed capital controls. The second and third occurred on October 10 and 27 during the 2008 subprime crisis.
The fourth was on March 12 when the SET index stumbled by 125.05 points to 1,124.84 points. The index closed the day at 1,114.94 points, down 10.8 percent from the previous day and the lowest in eight years.
There are two stages for using a circuit breaker. The first occurs if the SET index falls by 10 percent from the previous day's close. All trading in listed securities will be halted for 30 minutes, while the second comes in case the index falls by 20 percent, or another 10 percent, from the previous day's close. Trading in all listed securities will be halted for one hour.
The weakening SET index reflected fear of an economic recession induced by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Thailand reported 75 confirmed cases and one death as of March 13./.
VNA
