Baht Gains as Stocks Rise, Central Bank May Ease Export Rules

By Shanthy Nambiar

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s baht advanced on speculation gains in the nation’s stock market will help attract global funds.

The baht trimmed this year’s loss to 3.8 percent as the SET Index of stocks advanced as much as 0.8 percent today. The Bank of Thailand may ease “some foreign exchange rules to help facilitate exports,” Suchada Kirakul, an assistant governor, said yesterday, without providing details.

“Offshore players are selling dollars to buy baht,” said Chatchawan Jumruswittayawong, a foreign-exchange trader at Bank of Ayudhya Pcl in Bangkok. “The stock market has moved up a little bit. It’s in line with other markets in the region.”

The baht rose 0.2 percent to 36.08 as of 10:40 p.m. in Bangkok, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency will end the year at 35.80, according to the median estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The currency isn’t “that volatile,” and is moving “in line” with other currencies in Asia, Suchada said. “The inflows and outflows are quite balanced,” she said.

Thailand’s overseas sales, which account for 70 percent of gross domestic product, plunged 25 percent in January from a year earlier, according to the central bank. Reduced shipments curbed exporters’ demand for baht.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shanthy Nambiar; in Bangkok at snambiar1@bloomberg.net