Coronavirus impact: Sri Lanka follows Philippines in shutting bourses

For developed nations with virus-containment measures and business continuity plans in place, market shutdowns are not necessary, he added

In their war against coronavirus and foreigners’ exodus, smaller markets might follow the Philippines in shutting down their bourses, market participants say.

The nation’s move to close its equity market until Thursday has already been followed by Sri Lanka. In both cases, the reason given for the closure is to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has already infected more than 174,000 globally and killed 7,000.

“Smaller emerging markets, including Jakarta, would be the most likely to suffer the same fate,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at Oanda Asia Pacific in Singapore. “Their virus containment approach has been