EM ASIA FX-Asian currencies muted, eye China's Communist Party Congress for yuan clues

(Adds details, updates numbers)

By Ambar Warrick

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Asian currencies were subdued on

Wednesday as investors waited for any clues on the outlook for

China's foreign exchange policy from a key Communist Party

Congress.

President Xi Jinping said in his opening speech to the

twice-a-decade gathering early in the day that China will deepen

market-oriented reforms of exchange rates and interest rates,

reiterating an oft-heard government pledge.

But as expected the keynote speech dealt only with broad

themes and gave few details.

The Chinese yuan ticked up against the dollar,

after the People's Bank of China set its official yuan midpoint

at 6.5991 to the dollar.

Overnight, the United States declined to name China as a

currency manipulator although it remained critical of the

Chinese government's economic policies ahead of a planned visit

to Beijing by President Donald Trump.

The Singapore dollar also ticked up against the

dollar, while the Malaysian ringgit was closed for a

national holiday.

"The market remains guardedly optimistic in emerging market

Asian currencies, but over the short term with all the dollar

uncertainty brewing over the next Fed Chairperson, investors

will take a very cautious tack," Stephen Innes of FX broker

OANDA said in a note.

SOUTH KOREAN WON

The South Korean won ticked up against the

dollar.

South Korea remained on Washington's currency practice

monitoring list, but the outcome barely affected the won as it

was largely expected.

The country's import prices rose for an 11th consecutive

month in September on-year as a rise in global oil prices

boosted fuel costs, central bank data showed.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar as of 0407 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day as of

0407 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 112.210 112.19 -0.02

Sing dlr 1.354 1.3553 +0.08

Taiwan dlr 30.199 30.205 +0.02

Korean won 1130.300 1132.5 +0.19

Baht 33.095 33.1 +0.02

Peso 51.370 51.33 -0.08

Rupiah 13505.000 13505 +0.00

Rupee 64.980 65.02 +0.06

Yuan 6.609 6.6250 +0.24

Change so far

Currency Latest bid End 2016 Pct Move

Japan yen 112.210 117.07 +4.33

Sing dlr 1.354 1.4490 +7.00

Taiwan dlr 30.199 32.279 +6.89

Korean won 1130.300 1207.70 +6.85

Baht 33.095 35.80 +8.17

Peso 51.370 49.72 -3.21

Rupiah 13505.000 13470 -0.26

Rupee 64.980 67.92 +4.52

Yuan 6.609 6.9467 +5.10

(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim

Coghill)