SET, other Asian markets plunge amid Covid-19 anxiety

The total transaction volume was Bt68.179 billion with an index high of 1,105.20 and a low of 1,043.79.
A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to move at between 1,100 and 1,150, advising investors to closely follow the Dow Jones Futures Index since the US Federal Reserve cut its interest rate by 1 percentage point to almost zero to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.
“In the short term, the Fed’s emergency interest rate cut would cause negative sentiment because investors would think this outbreak might affect the global economy more than expected, while the Fed might not have other tools if this measure is not enough,” he said.
“However, in the long term, we foresee this measure will support the economy when money enters the system and this becomes a positive sentiment for money and capital markets due to an increase in liquidity.”
The top ten stocks with the highest trade value today were CPAll, BAM, PTT, AOT, CPF, Gulf, Advanc, PTTEP, BDMS and SCC.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 17,002.04, down 429.01 points, or 2.46 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index ended the day at 2,789.25, down 98.17 points, or 3.40 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 10,253.28, down 577.84 points, or 5.34 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended at 23,063.57, down 969.34 points, or 4.03 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi closed at 1,714.86, down 56.58 points, or 3.19 per cent.
Taiwan’s TaiEx ended at 9,717.77, down 411.10 points, or 4.06 per cent.