BANGKOK, May 13 (TNA) — The president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) supports the government’s policy to gradually relax its disease control measures and urges for the effective prevention of another round of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreading.
SET president Pakorn Preetathawatchai said the government made the right decision on the second round of disease control measure relaxation for more business resumption.
The gradual resumption was necessary and the second round of disease spreading must be prevented to protect the economy, he said.
According to him, the SET index last month showed that it bottomed out from its low level in March. In April, the SET index rose by 15.6% from the end of the previous month and the increase was the second highest in Asia. Stocks in the sectors of industries, resources, services, property development and construction outperformed the SET index.
Besides, in the first quarter of this year individual investors opened as many as 59,000 trading accounts as share prices dropped by 30-40%. Mr Pakorn expected initial public offerings to return in the third quarter of this year.
He admitted some listed companies either cancelled or postponed their dividend payment to protect their liquidity.
The situation of SET had not returned to normal yet but its fluctuation declined. The key was to prevent it from greatly fluctuating, Mr Pakorn said. (TNA)
