Thai stock exchange mulls relaxing rules to boost market liquidity and new listings
SET expects a stronger, more stable government after elections to implement effective economic policies
[BANGKOK] The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is considering easing some of its rules to boost market liquidity next year, and expects the recent stocks rally to encourage more initial public offerings, president Asadej Kongsiri said.
“In the past 20 plus months, we are putting a lot of regulations that have impacted liquidity,” Asadej said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday (Oct 10). “We’ll look to review that early next year.”
Thai authorities have tightened rules on short selling and high-frequency trading in a bid to restore investor confidence in what was once the world’s worst-performing equity market. The crackdown came as foreign investors pulled more than US$12 billion from Thai stocks since 2023.
Among the possible reviews, the stock exchange will look at the country’s so-called uptick rule on short selling, Asadej said.
The rule states that short sales must be executed at a price higher than the last traded price and it’s meant to help curb aggressive short selling and suppress downward momentum. But one downside is that it also shrinks liquidity.
Still, the benchmark SET Index has climbed 21 per cent from this year’s low in June to its highest level in more than nine months on Thursday. Investors now have more confidence in Thailand’s market outlook on optimism that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s new economic stimulus will boost growth.
Asadej expects the new government will be stronger and more stable after the next election, enabling it to implement effective economic policies. Anutin, who won the parliament backing to form the new government last month, has pledged to call new elections within four months.
The stock exchange expects an pickup in new listings over the next two quarters as the market rebound will encourage companies to raise funds through initial public offerings, said Asadej. More than 30 companies have filed for listings, he said.
Asadej said the stock exchange was asking investors to closely look at the information flow from Delta Electronics (Thailand), which was placed under market surveillance measures on Thursday. Delta’s shares slumped as much as 11.7 per cent on Friday, the most since Jun 4.
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Delta Thailand shares had surged 25 per cent this month through Thursday, while the nation’s benchmark SET Index gained just 3.1 per cent.
The stock had more than tripled in price from its April low, boosted by optimism over its role as maker of components for artificial-intelligence data centres. BLOOMBERG
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