Thai stocks rose 1% on Friday in line with other Asian markets as investors speculated that China's central bank would act soon to spur the world's second-largest economy.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index closed up 12.68 points or 1% from the day before at 1,298.79, a gain of 1% from the previous Friday's close of 1,286.26. Turnover was 36.08 billion baht, with 6.50 billion shares traded.
Foreign investors were net buyers on Friday of 4.05 billion baht worth of Thai shares and institutions bought 422.38 million. Local brokers sold 1.75 billion baht and individual investors sold 2.68 billion.
Lorraine Tan, director at Standard & Poor's equity research in Singapore, said she believed the Beijing government was likely to introduce incentives to encourage domestic spending rather than making more money available for loans.
"Banks are indicating that they are not finding takers for loans," she said. "The Chinese have a lot of flexibility. ... The question is, they will only act on it if they think it will achieve something."
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% to 20,840.38. South Korea's Kospi added nearly 0.4% to 1,996.21 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced slightly to 4,387. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines also rose.
Mainland Chinese shares rose ahead of an extended holiday next week.
World stock markets rose early Friday after Spain announced severe budget cuts meant to show international lenders and investors that the country was taking steps toward getting its debt under control.
Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3% in early trading, Germany's DAX added 0.5% and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.2%. Wall Street was headed for a flat opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures nearly unchanged at 13,412 and S&P 500 futures barely budging at 1,441.20.
In Bangkok, the SET50 index of blue chips ended at 886.58 points, up 9.91 points, or 1.13%, with total trade value of 22.99 billion baht. The SETHD index of high-dividend shares rose 5.67 points, or 0.5%, to 1,136.65 points, with turnover of 7.67 billion baht. The Market for Alternative Investment gained 1.71 points, or 0.5%, to close at 347.86, with transaction value of 2.9 billion baht.
The five most active shares by value were Bank of Ayudhya (BAY), rising 1 baht to 31.25; Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), up 0.75 baht to 33.50; The 7-Eleven operator CP All, rising 1 baht to 35.50; Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), up 2.50 to 168.50; and KBANK, rising 2.50 baht to 182.50.
In the currency markets, the baht completed its biggest quarterly advance in two years, helped by inflows of foreign investment funds to Thai stock and bond markets.
As of Thursday, foreign investors had purchased $7.6 billion more government bonds than they sold since July 1, according to data from the Thai Bond Market Association.
Inflows to emerging markets including Thailand have increased markedly since the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve announced further stimulus measures to spur growth.
"With Europe and the US taking a monetary-easing stance, funds tend to move to bonds and stocks in Asia that offer higher yields," said Shigehisa Shiroki, chief trader on the Asian and emerging-markets team at Mizuho Corporate Bank in Tokyo.
"Thailand has solid domestic demand and can probably withstand some weakening of external demand."
The baht was trading late Friday in Bangkok at 30.76/80 to the dollar, compared with 30.96/98 on Thursday. It has appreciated by 3.2% in the third quarter.
