SET uses circuit breaker as Covid-19 worries pummel Thai stocks

The SET had pulled the circuit breaker to suspend trade between 9.59am and 10.29am after the index fell by over 10 per cent on Friday morning.
A stock analyst at Krungsri Securities said that the SET had pulled the circuit breaker due to investors selling their stocks after US President Donald Trump suspended travel from Europe for 30 days, and the number of confirmed of Covid-19 infections in Thailand increased.
“Foreign investors made net sales of Bt1.929 billion in the stock market and Bt13.646 billion in the bond market, while there are 28,243 net long TFEX contracts.”
The analyst expected the SET Index to slide to between 1,050 and 1,080 due to lack of any outstanding positive sentiment, causing the trading to follow global stock trends.
“Most global stocks dropped due to uncertainty among investors following the Covid-19 outbreak, which has intensified in Europe and the US,” the stock analyst said.
“We advise investors who cannot take risks to hold cash and monitor the situation, while those who can take risks should buy stocks for short-term profit taking, especially stocks whose price have fallen sharply and pay high dividends regularly.”
The analyst recommended three groups of stocks for investors: 
● Defensive stocks which pay high dividends, such as ADVANC, INTUCH, and TTW.
● Retail stocks, which gained buying power after the government returned the electricity metre insurance for a total amount of Bt30 billion, such as CPALL, HMPRO, and BJC.
● Financial stocks, which gain benefit from the interest rate cut, such as MTC, SAWAD, and KTC.