(March 31): Thai authorities sought to calm investor nerves as the stock exchange prepared to resume trading after a massive earthquake last Friday caused widespread damage to buildings and killed about 18 people.

The overall fundamentals of companies listed on the Thai stock exchange remain strong, Asadej Kongsiri, the president of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, told a briefing on Monday, held along with representatives of the Bank of Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission among others. 

The business sector can cope with the post-quake situation and continue business without affecting the competitiveness of listed companies, Asadej said.

“We are ready to handle any movement in the market today whether it’s a big drop or a big rally,” Securities and Exchange Commission secretary general Pornanong Budsaratragoon said.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar led to the collapse of an under construction high-rise building in Bangkok and caused damages to thousands of buildings. Even before the quake, Thailand’s stock market was one of the worst-performers in the world this year after the benchmark tumbled 16% as foreign investors exited the country on concerns about the weak growth outlook.     

The Bank of Thailand said it has instructed financial institutions to extend special debt relief for disaster-affected borrowers similar to measures implemented due to floods a year ago.

The financials of Thai insurance companies are strong enough to meet any potential claims from policyholders and most of them have reinsurance with foreign companies, said Chuchatr Pramoolpol, the secretary general of the Office of the Insurance Commission.

The baht rose around 0.2% to 33.89 to the US dollar, extending gains this year to about 1.3%.

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