EM ASIA FX-Asian currencies steady to firmer; focus on Trump

* Yuan, ringgit, rupiah and won hold steady

* Singapore dollar, Taiwan dollar and baht edge higher

* Eyes on US President-elect Donald Trump's news conference

(Adds text, updates prices)

SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies were

steady to firmer on Wednesday, with investors awaiting a news

conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for further

clues on his economic policies and the direction of the

greenback.

After gaining some respite this month as a short-covering

rally in the offshore Chinese yuan triggered some buying back of

Asian currencies, the focus now is on Trump's news conference

due later on Wednesday.

Asian currencies will be especially sentitive to what Trump

says about China, said Kota Hirayama, senior economist for SMBC

Nikko Securities in Tokyo.

"As long as Trump doesn't say anything extremely harsh

against China, the impact on Asian currencies may be limited,"

Hirayama said, regarding the near-term outlook.

During the election campaign, Trump threatened to brand

China a currency manipulator on his first day in office on Jan.

20 and slap high tariffs on Chinese goods sold to the United

States.

Asian currencies are likely to come under renewed pressure

if the United States takes a hardline stance against China on

trade, which would raise concerns about the outlook for other

export-reliant Asian economies, he added.

Asian currencies have retreated broadly over the past couple

of months as U.S. bond yields jumped on expectations that

Trump's proposals for infrastructure spending and tax cuts will

prop up U.S. economic growth and inflation.

SOUTH KOREAN WON

The won was supported by dollar-selling by foreign players

and foreign demand for South Korean shares.

South Korean equities touched their highest level

since July 2015 at one point and were last up 1.4 percent on the

day.

Expectations that fourth-quarter earnings among South Korean

firms would be stronger helped give a lift to the equity market.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0416 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous Pct

day Move

Japan yen 116.10 115.78 -0.28

Sing dlr 1.4355 1.4362 +0.05

Taiwan dlr 31.891 31.948 +0.18

Korean won 1195.03 1194.60 -0.04

Baht 35.58 35.60 +0.06

Peso 49.540 49.505 -0.07

Rupiah 13308 13310 +0.02

Rupee 68.26 68.19 -0.11

Ringgit 4.4730 4.4730 +0.00

Yuan 6.9251 6.9245 -0.01

Change so

far in 2017

Currency Latest bid End prev Pct

year Move

Japan yen 116.10 117.07 +0.84

Sing dlr 1.4355 1.4490 +0.94

Taiwan dlr 31.891 32.279 +1.22

Korean won 1195.03 1207.70 +1.06

Baht 35.58 35.80 +0.63

Peso 49.54 49.72 +0.36

Rupiah 13308 13470 +1.22

Rupee 68.26 67.92 -0.50

Ringgit 4.4730 4.4845 +0.26

Yuan 6.9251 6.9467 +0.31

(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Additional reporting by Dahee

Kim in SEOUL and IFR Markets' Catherine Tan; Editing by Kim

Coghill)