SET plunges almost 10% over Covid-19 fears
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,024.46 points today (March 23), a decrease of 102.78 points, or 9.12 per cent, from Friday’s close, forcing the SET to push the circuit breaker for the third time this month.
Transactions amounted to Bt59.677 billion, with an index high of 1,065.67 and a low of 1,022.83.
The SET pushed the circuit breaker yet again this month to halt trading for 30 minutes – from 3.25pm to 3.55pm – after the index dropped lower than 8 per cent.
A stock analyst at AIRA Securities expected the SET Index to fluctuate on the downside, while forecasting a support level from 1,100 points to 1,070 and a resistance level from 1,165 to 1,185.
“The market experienced negative sentiment from a decline in global stock markets after the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US increased to 38,200, up 5,681 cases, or 20.9 per cent, causing worries of a global economic recession,” the stock analyst said.
The analyst said the market would gain positive sentiment from central banks in a number of countries relaxing monetary policy and issuing measures to deal with the Covid-19 impact.
“We expected that the market had already responded to this positive sentiment, but it would limit the recovery in banking stocks,” he said.
The analyst expected the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s move to close department stores and markets in the capital and ask the private sector to allow employees to work from home would cause short-term negative sentiment on department store and electric train stocks, while it would benefit retail stocks.
As of 4.49pm, global stocks were having a tendency to move downside.
The price of crude oil dropped by US$0.22, or 0.97 per cent, to $22.41 per barrel (Bt730.32), while the gold price rose by $10.50, or 0.71 per cent, to $1,495.10 per ounce.
The top ten stocks with the highest trade values today were BAM, PTT, CPAll, Gulf, AOT, Advanc, PTTEP, GPSC, KBank, and SCC.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed at 16,887.78, up 334.95 points, or 2.02 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index ended the day at 2,660.17, down 85.45 points, or 3.11 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 9,691.53, down 458.59 points, or 4.52 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended at 21,696.13, down 1,108.94 points, or 4.86 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi Index closed at 1,482.46, down 83.69 points, or 5.34 per cent.
Taiwan’s TaiEx ended at 8,890.03, down 344.06 points, or 3.73 per cent.
