Spain Bans Short Selling for A Month on Coronavirus Plunge

(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s securities regulator banned short selling for a month in an attempt to shield local stocks from the volatility caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision “has been taken due to the extreme volatility taking hold of European securities markets, including those based in Spain, their performance in the context of the situation arisen as a result of the virus COVID-19 and the risk of disorderly trading taking place in the following weeks,” the CNMV regulator said in an emailed statement late on Monday. “Another factor considered has been the consequences of the announcement of the state of emergency.”

The ban starts March 17 and can be extended for additional periods no exceeding three months.

Spain, as well as Italy, had already ordered a one day ban on short selling in the March 13 sessions. Spain’s benchmark Ibex index dropped to its lowest intra-day level since March 2003 during Monday’s session, before closing at the lowest since 2012.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Jim Silver

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