The Thai baht advanced to the highest in more than five weeks after opposition parties emerged as the biggest winners from elections over the weekend.
The baht climbed 0.9% to 33.70 per dollar on Monday, the highest since April 5. Pro-democracy parties Move Forward and Pheu Thai looked set to win majority of seats, putting them on course to wrest power from a military-backed government that has ruled for almost a decade.
“There is a tendency for the Thai baht to strengthen in the weeks following an election,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “Should history repeat, we can expect USD/THB to head lower and potentially test support at the 33.5 level.”
The baht, which is among the top performer in emerging Asia this year, may get a further boost as data due Monday is forecast to show the economy expanded at a faster pace last quarter. Gross domestic product probably rose 2.3% from a year ago, according a Bloomberg survey ahead of data due at 10:30 a.m. local time.
(Updates with analysts comment and GDP growth forecast for last quarter)
Author: Karl Lester M. Yap and Matthew Burgess
