Thai stock exchange sets new limits

Thai stock exchange sets new limits

BANGKOK (AFP): The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) announced yesterday new limits for share movements on the bourse, permitting a 30 percent fluctuation each way in a stock price during a single day's trading.

The new regulation, effective from August 1, will allow greater swings in share prices. The current system allows a stocks to deviate 10 percent above and below the previous day's closing price.

An informed source at the SET said that the new regulations would allow shares to gain 33.1 percent or decline 27.1 percent in a single day's trading.

SET president Singh Tangtatswas made the announcement to reporters after the market enjoyed another bullish day, surging 6.3 percent.

The bourse has gained nearly 25 percent over the past three days, with buying across the board since the Thai authorities decided to float the baht Wednesday.

Singh said that as part of the new bourse operation, the SET would also set a floor system for the SET index, that would bring a pause or a suspension in trading if there was a sharp drop in share prices in a single day.

The SET would halt trade for one hour if the broad-based index fell by 100 points and for one and half hours if it fell by 150 points. If it declined by 200 points, all trading would be suspended for the day, he said.