Asia shares higher, baht edges up after coup

HONG KONG - Asian markets rose for a second straight day Friday, taking a positive cue from Wall Street, and Thailand's baht edged up against the dollar after the army announced a coup after months of deadly protests.

The greenback made further inroads against the yen as improved sentiment led investors into higher yielding, riskier assets.

Tokyo rose 0.94 per cent by the break, Hong Kong added 0.13 per cent, Sydney was up 0.38 per cent, Seoul put on 0.10 per cent and Shanghai was 0.13 per cent higher.

Sentiment remains buoyant after Thursday's gains that were fuelled by a sharp improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity and positive comments about interest rates from the US Federal Reserve.

New York's main indexes ended higher following a mixed batch of indicators as the United States heads for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims, a measure of the pace of layoffs, ticked up slightly from the previous week, while existing homes sales were 1.3 per cent higher in April, the first month there has been a rise this year.

The Dow edged up 0.07 per cent, the S&P 500 rose 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.55 per cent.

Dealers are keeping an eye on events in Thailand after the military seized power Thursday, declaring a nationwide night-time curfew and curbs on civil liberties.

It also ordered masses of rival demonstrators off Bangkok's streets that over the past seven months have seen deadly anti-government demonstrations.

Coup reduces uncertainty

The new junta headed by General Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Thursday the coup was staged "in order for the country to return to normal quickly".

"All Thais must remain calm and government officials must work as normal," he said in a brief televised address announcing the takeover, flanked by top military and police officials.

On Friday military leaders summoned more than 100 prominent figures from rival political camps, including "Red Shirt" leaders, former police and military officers and politicians from the opposing parties.

However, Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics said the latest events could help the country in the short term.

"The coup reduces uncertainty about the immediate outlook and, in particular, the possibility that the political standoff would turn much more violent," he said. "For these reasons it could actually be positive both for Thailand's economy and financial markets in the near term." In early Friday trade the baht rose to 32.49 against the dollar from 32.54 on Thursday. The currency and Thailand's stocks market have barely been affected by the country's recent events.

Although the economy shrank for the first time in two years in January-March, analysts say it has been largely immune to shocks - the nation has long been nicknamed "Teflon Thailand" for its record of resilience in the face of political upheaval.

In other currency trade the dollar bought 101.81 yen compared with 101.72 yen in New York Thursday, while the euro was at 138.93 yen from 138.90 yen and $1.3645 against $1.3653.

Oil prices dipped. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July, fell five cents to $103.69 per barrel in early Asian trading.

Brent North Sea crude for July delivery dropped one cent to $110.35.

Gold fetched $1,294.02 an ounce at 0230 GMT compared with $1,296.27 late Wednesday.