*
Thai markets mixed after election result
*
Other Asian currencies, shares fall
*
Market sentiment remains weak
By Archishma Iyer May 15 (Reuters) - The Thai baht was the sole gainer among emerging Asian currencies, seeing its best day in more than a month after a surprise win by the country's opposition parties on Sunday sparked a rally, even as shares fell. The baht on Monday rose as much as 0.8% to trade at 33.705 against the dollar to see its best day since early April. Equities in the tourism-reliant economy , fell about 1.3% to a week's low, after rising in early trade.
Sunday's election results showed that the Move Forward Party secured the top place over the parties allied with the military, setting the stage for a flurry of deal-making over forming a government in a bid to end nearly a decade of conservative, army-backed rule. "It's quite uncertain at this point so both the baht and SET index could be quite volatile in sideway trend until it becomes clear which party will decide to form a coalition government with the Move Forward Party," Poon Panichpibool, Markets Strategist at Krung Thai Bank said.
The benchmark was dragged predominantly by the utilities sector, after an election promise by the Move Forward party indicated a reduction in electricity costs. Shares in Gulf Energy Development and Global Power Synergy dropped 6.7% and 5.2% respectively.
Meanwhile, other currencies such as the Singapore dollar , Malaysian ringgit , Indonesian rupiah and the South Korean won slipped in the range of 0.1% and 0.5%.
Investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a slew of economic data from China in the coming days to judge global financial health, while the country kept its interest rates unchanged, despite concerns of a economic downturn. Separately, market players remained cautious after weak consumer sentiment data from the United States pointed to a deteriorating economic outlook.
Markets are still pricing a peak in Fed funds rates and are seeing 70 basis points in cuts by the end of this year, after the inflation data last week supported the case of Fed pausing given the slowing inflation.
Additionally, uncertainty regarding the raising of the debt ceiling for the U.S weighed on investor sentiment, where President Joe Biden is set to meet congressional leaders in order to raise the nation's debt limit to avoid a default.
Among share markets, equities in Singapore , Malaysia , India and China dropped between 0.1% and 0.7%
HIGHLIGHTS:
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise to 6.430%
** Thailand's economic growth quickens in Q1 as tourism
rebounds
** Indonesia April trade surplus beats forecast; exports,
imports fall Asia stock indexes and currencies
at 0545 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD %
%
Japan -0.32 -3.69 <.N225 0.69 12.62
>
China <CNY=CFXS -0.01 -0.85 <.SSEC -0.07 5.85
> >
India -0.08 +0.60 <.NSEI 0.33 1.49
>
Indonesi -0.45 +5.08 <.JKSE -0.66 -2.73
a >
Malaysia -0.47 -2.18 <.KLSE -0.18 -5.03
>
Philippi -0.14 -0.47 -0.03 0.15
nes
S.Korea <KRW=KFTC -0.08 -5.32 <.KS11 0.08 10.77
> >
Singapor -0.01 +0.10 0.02 -1.30
e
Taiwan -0.15 -0.31 <.TWII 0.00 9.65
>
Thailand +0.65 +2.44 <.SETI -0.67 -7.06
>
(Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee)
