Asia-Pacific markets mixed; Thailand’s election results in focus, baht

Thailand’s gross domestic product for the first quarter grew 2.7% year-on-year, beating expectations of a 2.3% rise.

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, Thailand’s economy grew 1.9% in the first quarter of the year.

The economy was driven by the “robust growth” of export of services and private consumption, along with the continual expansion of both private and public investment, its economic and social development council said.

The export of goods and government expenditure, meanwhile, fell.

Growth was also seen in the accommodation and food service activities sector, as well as the transportation and storage sector.

— Lim Hui Jie

The Thai baht rallied on Monday, strengthening 0.6% to 33.73 against the U.S. dollar as Thailand’s opposition parties look set to be the biggest winners in Sunday’s general election.

The baht hovered at its strongest levels since February earlier this year when it was trading below the 33.5 threshold.

The currency saw its recent weakest point in October last year as the U.S. Federal Reserve continued its tightening cycle to above 38.3 against the greenback, the weakest the Thai currency had been since August 2006, Refinitiv data showed.

The Thai currency bucked weakness seen across the FX market among Asian currencies on Monday, with the Japanese yen weakening by 0.06% to 135.79 against the U.S. dollar and the onshore Chinese yuan comparatively flat.

Citi economist Nalin Chutchotitham said Thailand’s medium-term economic outlook “could see increased risks of populist economic policies which could raise questions on future fiscal discipline,” she wrote in a Sunday note.

— Jihye Lee

South Korea trade deficit narrowed for a fourth straight month to a revised figure of $2.65 billion in April, a Monday release showed, slightly higher than the preliminary figure of $2.62 billion released earlier this month.

The latest reading follows a deficit of $4.74 billion seen in March and marks the 14th straight month of the nation’s trade balance remaining deficit territory, in which imports exceed the amount of exports.

The revised figure was also lower than the $2.89 billion deficit expected by economists polled by Reuters.

April’s exports came in at $49.58 billion, a 14.3% decline compared to April last year, while imports stood at $52.23 billion, down 13.3% year-on-year.

Trade in the first ten days of May also indicated exports fell by 10.1% while imports also fell by 5.7%, a separate release from last Thursday showed.

— Lim Hui Jie

Economic data releases and a Group of Seven summit in Japan will be the highlights of this week’s events in the Asia-Pacific.

On Monday, Thailand’s gross domestic product for the first quarter will be released in the morning. Economists at Goldman Sachs expect the economy to post a 1.8% quarter-on-quarter growth as consumption picks up and inventories rebound amid slower factory activity.

China releases a slew of economic data on Tuesday: Industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment growth as well as unemployment rate. Compared to a low base seen in April a year ago, market watchers are largely expecting the economic indicators to reflect a rebound in growth.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast industrial output to grow by 10.1% year-on-year in April after posting growth of 3.9% the month before. They also see retail sales surging 20.1% for the month after the economy saw a jump of 10.6% in March.

Australia’s central bank minutes as well as its first quarter wage price index will be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

New Zealand will unveil its annual budget for the year on Thursday, in which its finance minister has described as it focusing on returning to “a more sustainable fiscal position.”

Philippines’ central bank will meet and is widely expected keep its policy interest rate…