Thailand Open to More Steps to Buoy One of Asia’s Worst Markets

(Bloomberg) --

Thailand is ready for more measures to help stabilize its battered equities after the novel coronavirus outbreak and fears of an economic recession triggered one of Asia’s worst stock market plunge this year.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand has studied several measures, including adjusting margin trading, to prepare for any circumstance arising that may require an intervention, President Pakorn Peetathawatchai said in Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday. The bourse has so far been “satisfied” with new steps, such as narrowing the daily limit of price swings and circuit breaker levels to help maintain market stability, he said.

“We are always monitoring the market movement,” said Pakorn. Closing the stock market would be “the last option” as keeping it open is important to provide liquidity for investors, he said.

Thailand’s bleak economic and corporate earnings outlooks have hammered local equities, with the SET index plunging 36% this year, Asia’s worst benchmark after the Philippines. Wide price swings pushed the stock exchange on Wednesday to narrow the permissible trading range for individual stocks and revise circuit breakers to limit future drops.

Thailand is bracing for a potential national lockdown if cases of the coronavirus keep surging, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said in Bangkok on Wednesday. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has seen a surge in new infections in the past week as confirmed cases tripled to more than 200 patients, according to health-ministry data.

Companies have postponed initial public offerings to the second half of the year as “all uncertainties” have affected plans, said Pakorn.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.