Thailand's Stocks, Currency Fall as Protesters Block Parliament

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Bloomberg

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Thai stocks and the baht fell, while the cost of protecting external debt from default surged, as protesters blocked government access to parliament, deepening concern the political crisis will spur an exit by investors.

The benchmark stock index slid to its lowest in more than five years and the baht dropped to a three-week low after police this morning dispersed protesters who had blocked Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from presenting his new administration's policies to lawmakers. Three people were ``seriously'' injured, the state-owned NBT television network reported.

The SET Index dropped as much as 3 percent to 535.33 and was at 540.28 as of 10:26 a.m. in Bangkok, headed for its lowest close since August 2003. The baht fell as much as 3 percent to 34.59 per dollar, the weakest since Sept. 16, before trading at 34.51, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

``The news about the clash has accelerated the baht's weakness, which has already been depressed by outflows of foreign investment from the stock market,'' said Usara Wilaipich, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Bangkok. ``The escalating political conflict will certainly spur additional selling of stocks by overseas investors.''



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