(Reuters) – As the coronavirus outbreak and global growth worries cause global stock markets to sink, stock exchanges are tweaking trading rules to protect their markets from intense volatility and speculative trading.
The Philippine Stock Exchange took a bold step to close its financial markets on March 17 in response to coronavirus, while many others around the world close trading floors or pause trade after big falls.
Here are some of the measures taken by exchanges in Europe and Asia so far:
EUROPE
ITALY
** Market regulator Consob suspended short-selling on the Milan stock market for three months.
SPAIN
** Spain imposed a one-month ban on short-selling, which it said could be extended.
FRANCE
** France banned short-selling on 92 stocks on March 17
ASIA
THE PHILIPPINES
** The Philippines became the first country to suspend trade on March 17 amid a broader national lockdown.
** The Philippine Stock Exchange said it will resume trading on March 19.
** Currency and bond trading were also suspended. Currency trading allowed to restart as early as March 18
THAILAND
** Revises circuit breaker rules to last until the end of June at the latest
** New rules will see a 8% drop trigger a 30-minute halt in trade; a 15% fall to initiate a 30-minute halt, while a 20% plunge will see it halted for an hour
SOUTH KOREA
** South Korea tightened short-selling rules for three months from March 11
** Stocks with a sudden and abnormal increase in short-selling transactions will be suspended from further short-selling for 10 days, compared with a the current limit of one day
** Stocks on the KOSPI that drop 5% or more and where daily short-selling transactions are up by three or more times the average of the previous 40 days will be subject to the new rule
** The exchange also briefly activated sidecar curbs on March 12 for the first time in more than eight years to halt program trading
INDONESIA
** Indonesia’s stock exchange has tightened trading halt mechanisms, where a more than 5% drop on its main stock index <.JKSE> will see trading halted by 30 minutes, compared with the 10% previously
** If the index’s losses extend to 10% when trading resumes, it will be halted for a further half hour
** The exchange has also changed mechanisms for individual stock prices, and trading will now be halted if there is a 10% move, down from a previous 20-35%
** There is also a ban on short-selling: the exchange removed all stocks on a list where it was allowed until further notice
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan, Kim Coghill and Arun Koyyur)
