The dollar remained firm and Asian stocks edged higher on Monday after fairly strong consumer spending led to an upward revision in U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter, helping to underpin investor sentiment.
"As long as the U.S. economic recovery is continuing, I would think the rally in global equity markets will continue," said Takeru Ogihara, chief strategist at Mizuho Trust Bank.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 gained 0.8 percent while U.S. stock futures ESc1 ticked up 0.2 percent in early Asian trade, though it is still slightly down on the quarter.
Thailand reported that exports grew in February for the first time in 14 months, thanks to two unusual items - helicopters and an eight-fold increase from a month earlier for gold shipments.
In February, customs-cleared exports rose 10.27 percent from a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday. A Reuters poll projected a drop of 7.65 percent following January´s decline of 8.91 percent.
Imports plunged 16.82 percent, nearly double the slide seen in a Reuters poll and an indication that exports - traditionally a growth driver in Thailand - remain weak, in spite of the reported February rise.
Many imported items are parts assembled into finished goods and shipped out. Pushing up February exports, in the government data, were helicopters and vehicles for military drills ($683 million) and gold of $1.89 billion, compared with $237 million in January. Those two items accounted for nearly 14 percent of total exports of $18.99 billion.
However, the increase was irregularly large due to significant exports of gold and military-drill equipment, neither of which strictly benefits the economy or trading.
Excluding oil and gold, February exports grew by 2.4 per cent, year on year.
Following the rise in gold prices last month, gold exports increased strongly by 1,051 per cent year on year to $1.89 billion.
Reference: News International, Nation Multimedia, Reuters
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