buying opportunity as it removes the political roadblock from the economy," said Richard Yetsenga, a currency strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong. "The coup is as calm as you could possibly expect." HSBC expects the currency to reach 37 by year-end, Yetsenga said. "Political uncertainty was one of the main things that prevented people from going into the Thai market," said Uwe Parpart, head of fixed income and currency research for Asia at Cantor Fitzgerald in Hong Kong. "With that removed, it certainly is a buying opportunity." The baht may rise beyond 37.20 in a few days, he said. The coup in Thailand is unlikely to affect markets like in 1997, said Malaysian central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz. The devaluation of the baht in 1997 triggered a collapse in currencies and stock markets across the region, resulting in the Asian financial crisis. According to Bandid Nijathaworn, a deputy central bank governor of the Bank of Thailand, the baht and financial markets suffered limited impacts from the coup. The baht was volatile last Tuesday night and Wednesday in offshore trade but stabilised within normal trading ranges late. Dr Bandid said foreign investors had remained confident in the country's economic fundamentals in the medium and long terms, and in the reasonable price level of Thai stocks National and international trade and business The coup's impact on negotiations for a US-Thailand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States are not immediately clear, but Washington still hopes to secure a pact when democracy is restored, a top US trade official said yesterday.US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said "Formal negotiations were suspended pending the elections that had been anticipated later this year and we had assumed that the formal negotiations would resume in December". Controversy surrounding the bilateral trade talks with the US may have contributed to the downfall of the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Robert Collins, managing director of the UK-based property agency Savills (Thailand) Ltd. said that foreign buyers will have more confidence in a solid economy in Thailand in the aftermath of the coup Credit ratings Thailand's bond ratings are currently unchanged, but credit rating agencies have announced that they may downgrade them depending on future developments. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that it would place its 'BBB+' long-term foreign, 'A' long-term local, 'A2' short-term foreign, and 'A1' short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings for Thailand on