BENGALURU: Thai stocks were higher on Friday as the country elected a new prime minister after a recent spate of political instability, while other Asian currencies and stocks headed for weekly gains as investors shrugged off recession fears in the United States.
Thai stocks were up 0.9%, as of 0805 GMT, and set for a 0.3% weekly gain. The index has lost nearly 9% this year. However, the baht was largely flat.
Political newcomer Paetongtarn Shinawatra became Thailand’s youngest prime minister two days after the Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for ethics violations.
“This isn’t the first time it has happened and seasoned emerging market investors are quite aware of the political issues in Thailand,” said Daniel Tan, portfolio manager at Singapore-based Grasshopper Asset Management.
“We (have) seen that happened before with previous prime ministers ... global investors continue to invest in Thai assets.”
Pressure on other Southeast Asian stocks and currencies eased after last week’s market turmoil triggered by recession fears.
The Philippine peso was 0.1% lower but was set for its sixth straight weekly gain, a day after the central bank cut its benchmark borrowing rate by 25 basis points, in the first rate cut since Nov. 2020.
The central bank has room for one more cut this year, its governor said.
Philippine stocks rose as much as 2.6% to their highest since early April, and were set for a 3% weekly gain.
“It (one more cut) is entirely plausible because their inflation data is going to drop really quite meaningfully over the next couple of months,” said Robert Carnell, regional head of Asia Pacific research at ING.
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