Emerging Asia feels sell-off pain as investors seek safety

Market stabilization measures quell some fears as governments step up

Women wearing face masks walk past headquarters of the stock exchange of Thailand in Bangkok. The coronavirus has hit the region's economies hard (Photo by Akira Kodaka)

SHOTARO TANI, Nikkei staff writer

March 13, 2020 19:42 JST

JAKARTA -- For investors in emerging Asia, Friday quickly brought what has become an ominously familiar feature of recent trading: automatic "circuit breakers" kicking in to halt dealing across a swath of stock markets as shares took another lurch downward.

The string of market suspensions highlighted that the smaller, more vulnerable economies of Southeast Asia have been some of the worst affected by the coronavirus-related turmoil, with currencies also taking a hit, as investors fret over the impact of the outbreak.