Thai stocks, baht jump on optimism over royal transition

Kuala Lumpur

THAI stocks jumped the most since 2013 and the baht strengthened on prospects for a smooth transition following the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest reigning monarch.

The benchmark SET Index surged 4.6 per cent to close at 1,477.61 on Friday and the baht advanced 0.9 per cent to 35.30 a dollar after gaining as much as 1.6 per cent earlier.