HONG KONG, May 23 (AFP): Asian markets rose for a second straight day Friday following a positive lead from Wall Street, but Bangkok retreated after the army announced a coup following months of deadly protests.
The greenback made further inroads against the yen as improved sentiment led investors into higher yielding, riskier assets.
Tokyo climbed 0.87 per cent, or 124.38 points, to 14,462.17, Sydney put on 0.23 per cent, or 12.9 points, to 5,492.8 and Seoul was flat, edging up 1.58 points to 2,017.17.
Shanghai rose 0.66 per cent, or 13.28 points, to 2,034.57 and Hong Kong was marginally higher, adding 12.10 points to 22,965.86.
Sentiment remains buoyant after Thursday's gains that were fuelled by a sharp improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity and positive comments about interest rates from the US Federal Reserve.
New York's main indexes ended higher following a mixed batch of indicators as the United States heads for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims, a measure of the pace of layoffs, ticked up slightly from the previous week, while existing homes sales were 1.3 per cent higher in April, the first month there has been a rise this year.
The Dow edged up 0.07 per cent, the S&P 500 rose 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.55 per cent.
In other currency trade the dollar bought 101.73 yen compared with 101.72 yen in New York Thursday, while the euro was at 138.65 yen from 138.90 yen and $1.3630 against $1.3653.
There was little movement after Standard and Poor's upgraded the credit ratings of Spain and Greece as the country's embark on economic reforms after their debt crises.
Oil prices edged down. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July, fell six cents to $103.68 per barrel in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for July delivery eased 13 cents to $110.23.
Gold fetched $1,291.65 an ounce at 1038 GMT compared with $1,296.27 late Wednesday.
Bangkok lost 0.60 per cent or 8.37 points to 1,396.84.
Airports of Thailand dropped 2.37 per cent to 185.50 baht, while telecoms company Total Access Communication fell 2.02 per cent to 121.00 baht.
Kuala Lumpur's main stock index lost 5.90 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 1,869.22.
SapuraKencana Petroleum fell 2.4 per cent to 4.09 ringgit, while plantation giant Sime Darby dropped 0.1 per cent to 9.63. DiGi.com gained 0.4 per cent to 5.40 ringgit.
Jakarta closed up 0.06 per cent, or 3.18 points, at 4,973.06.
Bank Permata gained 0.75 per cent at 1,340 rupiah, while Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper lost 0.39 per cent at 1,285 rupiah.
Mumbai's Stock Exchange rose 1.31 per cent or 318.95 points to end at 24,693.35 points.
Truck maker Ashok Leyland surged 13.67 per cent to 32.85 rupees and Canara Bank gained 13.25 per cent to 469.75 rupees.
