Thailand’s stock market witnessed a sharp downturn, falling more than 8% by midday as investors exited risk assets in response to growing worries over the possible escalation and duration of conflicts in the Middle East.
The heightened sell-off, which spanned multiple industry groups, pushed the benchmark toward a circuit breaker threshold set by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
By 12:19 PM, the main SET Index benchmark had dropped to 1,348.99 points, marking a decrease of 117.52 points or 8.01%, with a trading value of roughly 95.1 billion baht. The spike in uncertainty drove market participants to cut exposure in line with risk aversion seen across global markets.
Under the Stock Exchange of Thailand rules introduced in April 2020, a decline in the index of 8% from the previous session activates the first of three “circuit breaker” levels, suspending trading for 30 minutes.
The broader mechanism outlines further halts at 15% and 20% drops, with market pauses extending up to one hour if the third threshold is reached. If less than the required pause duration remains in the trading day, the session is closed for the rest of the day.
Historical data show the SET Index has triggered circuit breaker halts six times, most recently during the COVID-19 market turmoil in March 2020, and previously during the 2006 capital control announcement and the 2008 financial crisis.
The day’s loss was magnified by outsized declines in some of the market’s largest constituents. Delta Electronics (Thailand) (DELTA) slumped 12.73%, erasing approximately 33.5 points from the index.
Gulf Development (GULF) shed 10%, reducing the index by 6.8 points. Airports of Thailand (AOT) and PTT also posted steep falls, weighing on the travel and energy sectors, while Advanced Info Service (ADVANC) ended the session with a decline of 3.84%.
