EMERGING MARKETS-Most Asian stocks jump on China support for property sector; FX steady

(.) * Malaysian stocks hit over 3-year high * China stocks scale over 8-month high * Indonesia rate decision due on Wednesday By John Biju May 20 (Reuters) - Most Asian stock markets advanced on Monday while currencies held steady, as investor sentiment was bolstered by China's latest measures to support its beleaguered property sector. Chinese stocks gained as much as 0.6% to hit their highest since early September 2023. Last week, China unveiled "historic" steps to stabilise its crisis-hit property sector, although economic data indicated a patchy recovery for the world's second-largest economy. Even with these measures, deep-rooted fundamentals of huge oversupply and weak demand remain in the country. "We believe the policy package is just the beginning of the central government's efforts to turn the sector around; there could be more policy support to be introduced in the near term," Nomura analysts wrote in a note. In Southeast Asia, Malaysian shares extended gains from last week to climb as much as 0.8% to hit their highest in more than three years. Press Metal Aluminium Holdings and Axiata Group led the gains. Stocks in Indonesia jumped as much as 0.8% to hit their highest level since March 27, ahead of a central bank policy decision. A Reuters poll showed that the central bank will likely keep its key interest rate on hold through next quarter to support a weak rupiah. In its last policy meeting, Bank Indonesia unexpectedly hiked rates in an effort to stabilise the rupiah. The currency, which has lost 3.6% so far this year, edged 0.2% lower for the day. "We are staying cautious on the IDR despite the more optimistic U.S. data last week, as the path downwards for U.S. inflation is still one that is likely to bumpy," Maybank analysts wrote in a note. Last week, the Philippine central bank stood pat on rates but hinted at cutting in August ahead of major central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve. Markets are wagering at least two Fed rate cuts this year after data last week showed U.S. consumer prices eased in April, but several Fed officials have sounded words of caution on when easing might happen. Most emerging Asian currencies were steady, with market participants awaiting minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting and inflation data from Singapore this week for further direction. The Thai baht edged higher. Thailand trimmed its economic growth forecast for 2024 despite a better-than-expected expansion in the January-March quarter. HIGHLIGHTS: ** BOJ may face more pressure to hike rates as weak yen hits consumer spending ** China leaves benchmark LPRs unchanged, in line with expectations ** Indonesia's current account deficit widens in Q1 Asia stock indexes and currenc ies at 0355 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK DAILY YTD % X S S YTD % DAILY % % Japan -0.06 -9.43 <.N2 1.03 17.10 25> China EC> India - -0.15 <.NS - 3.55 EI> Indones -0.16 -3.64 <.JK 0.07 0.68 ia SE> Malaysi +0.02 -2.01 <.KL 0.76 11.98 a SE> Philipp -0.14 -4.11 <.PS 0.89 3.52 ines I> S.Korea 11> Singapo +0.04 -1.92 <.ST -0.10 2.16 re I> Taiwan -0.12 -4.69 <.TW -0.32 18.18 II> Thailan +0.19 -5.07 <.SE 0.10 -2.25 d TI> (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)