Thai stocks resisted continued heavy selling by foreign investors on Friday to gain 0.74% on a mixed day for Asian markets.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index rose 11.39 points to close at 1,540.13, an increase of 1.2% from the previous Friday's close of 1,521.52. Turnover was heavy at 75.17 billion baht, with 11.95 billion shares traded.

After a volatile week that included a sharp sell-off on Thursday, the local market is now up 10.7% from the end of 2012.

Foreign investors were heavy net sellers on Friday of 5.79 billion baht worth of Thai shares. Local institutions were net buyers of 2.19 billion baht and brokers bought 645.2 million. Individual investors were net buyers of 2.95 billion baht. 

Since the start of this month, foreign investors have sold 18.49 billion baht more in Thai stocks than they have bought, giving then a net-sell position for the year to date of 3.45 billion baht.

Asian markets were mixed on Friday with bargain-hunting offset by a weak lead from Wall Street and gloomy data out of the euro zone.

The euro and dollar rebounded slightly against the yen after suffering big losses in the past few days, while traders were casting an eye to Italy's election over the weekend.

Tokyo shed earlier losses to end up 0.68% at 11,385.94, Sydney rose 0.76% to 5,018.1, and Seoul added 0.18% to 2,018.89. Shanghai ended down 0.51% at 2,314.16 and Hong Kong lost 0.54% to close at 22,782.44.

While traders picked up cheap shares after Thursday's losses, sentiment remained subdued after minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting stoked fears that it could end its huge monetary easing sooner than expected.

In Bangkok, the SET50 index of blue chips ended at 1,014.25 points, up 7.12 points, with total trade value of 43.57 billion baht. The SETHD index of high-dividend shares rose 10.55 points to 1,304.80, with turnover of 12.7 billion baht. The Market for Alternative Investment gained 7.07 points to 462.87, with transaction value of 3.5 billion baht.

The five most active shares by value were the 7-Eleven operator CPALL, down 2 baht at 47.75; the tile maker Union Mosaic Industries (UMI), up 4.25 baht to 29.75; the community mall leader Siam Future Development (SF), up 2.30 to 12.50 baht; PTT, up one baht to 349; and the telecom equipment firm Jasmine International (JAS), up 35 satang to 6.55 baht.

In the currency markets, the baht advanced slightly from a week earlier on speculation that accelerating growth will attract more investment to the country.

The central bank's decision this week to leave its interest rate unchanged also increased appetites for Thai assets.

Official GDP figures released earlier this week showed that the Thai economy expanded by 6.4% in 2012, higher than most forecasts.

Foreign investors continued to chase Thai bonds, with a net buying position for February of $1.9 billion through Thursday, but they are now net sellers for the year of Thai stocks.

"The economy is very strong and it's natural to see appreciation pressure on the baht," said Koji Fukaya, president of Office Fukaya, a currency research and consulting company in Tokyo.

"From time to time, authorities may have to step in to the market just to slow the pace of appreciation."

The baht was trading late Friday in Bangkok at 29.85/86 to the dollar, compared with 29.87/89 on Thursday and 29.85/87 a week earlier. The currency has climbed 2.5% in 2013, the best performance in Asia.