EM ASIA FX-Asian currencies pressured as U.S. Treasury yield tops 3 pct

* Indian rupee at more than 1-yr low

* US yields hover above 3 pct mark

* China's yuan flat

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Chris Thomas

April 25 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies remained

under selling pressure on Wednesday as benchmark U.S. bond

yields poked above the 3 percent level and lifted the dollar.

Indonesia's rupiah was left wallowing around recent two-year

lows even as the central bank intervened to stabilise the

currency.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury note's yield hit its

highest level since early 2014, taking the dollar up 0.13

percent to 90.881 against its index of six major currencies.

"There’s a lot more concern that it could spill over into

regional bond outflows," said Chang Wei Liang, FX strategist at

Mizuho Bank.

"If you look across the broader fundamentals, there is

support for another uptick in yields with oil prices flirting

with recent highs."

Higher oil prices point to increased inflationary pressure,

which typically undercuts bond prices and supports bond yields.

Indonesia's rupiah was about 0.1 percent weaker.

High volatility in the rupiah led Bank Indonesia (BI) to

intervene, buying Indonesian sovereign bonds and selling foreign

currency.

Governor Agus Martowardojo said on Tuesday that BI would

continue working to stabilise the currency.

The central bank is also urging companies to hedge their

foreign exchange needs beyond the 25 percent minimum regulated

requirement, in an attempt to temper dollar demand.

The Indian rupee was the worst performer in the

region, falling as much as 0.5 percent to its weakest level in

more than a year.

Indian shares were down 0.4 percent.

The Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and the

Singapore dollar fell as much as 0.3 percent, while the

Thai baht slipped 0.2 percent.

The Chinese yuan, which firmed slightly earlier

in the session, was largely flat.

INDONESIAN RUPIAH

The rupiah has fallen about 0.9 percent since the spike in

U.S. yields last week, due to large foreign holdings of

Indonesian bonds.

Foreigners held 39 percent of Indonesian government bonds at

the end of March, Bank Indonesia data showed.

Due to a pick up in corporate USD demand and exacerbated FX

market imbalance, "foreign reserves in April may drop by a

larger magnitude than the $2 billion in March," Citi analysts

said in a note.

"Yet, if the past is any guide, corporate demand for US$

usually drops after the dividend season (May) and Eid

festivities (mid-June) pass."

"Hence in the meantime, Bank Indonesia probably will refrain

from any major policy shifts and may continue deploying FX

reserves, which it has beefed up since 2016."

SOUTH KOREAN WON

The South Korean won shed 0.4 percent to touch

its lowest in more than four weeks.

The currency, which is heavily influenced by equity flows,

was also weighed by a drop in the KOSPI stock index,

which was down for a fourth session.

"There’s a lot of scope for surprise on the upside, partly

because we’re quite bullish on Korean Q1 GDP due later in the

week," said Wei Liang.

South Korea's economy is expected to have returned to growth

in the first quarter as exports of memory chips were strong

enough to partly offset a steep decline in construction

investment.

The advance GDP estimate is due 2300 GMT on April 25.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the

dollar at 0529 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 109.060 108.81 -0.23

Sing dlr 1.326 1.3220 -0.28

Taiwan dlr 29.630 29.616 -0.05

Korean won 1080.100 1076.8 -0.31

Baht 31.480 31.43 -0.16

Peso 52.320 52.191 -0.25

Rupiah 13895.000 13885 -0.07

Rupee 66.665 66.38 -0.44

Ringgit 3.908 3.903 -0.13

Yuan 6.308 6.3073 -0.01

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 109.060 112.67 +3.31

Sing dlr 1.326 1.3373 +0.88

Taiwan dlr 29.630 29.848 +0.74

Korean won 1080.100 1070.50 -0.89

Baht 31.480 32.58 +3.49

Peso 52.320 49.977 -4.48

Rupiah 13895.000 13565 -2.37

Rupee 66.665 63.87 -4.19

Ringgit 3.908 4.0440 +3.48

Yuan 6.308 6.5069 +3.15

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru

Editing by Eric Meijer)