EM ASIA FX-Asian currencies weaken as Fed stays on hawkish path

* Indonesia rupiah drops near 1 pct but set for weekly gain

* Indian rupee bucks trend as markets play catch-up after

holidays

* Chinese yuan poised to lose 0.9 pct this week

(Adds detail, updates prices)

By Niyati Shetty

Nov 9 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies weakened against the

dollar on Friday as the greenback gained after the U.S. Federal

Reserve reaffirmed its hawkish monetary policy stance and stayed

on course for a December interest rate hike.

Local currencies have seen significant sell-offs this year

as investors gravitated towards higher U.S. bond yields after

the Fed raised key rates three times this year on the back of a

robust U.S. economy.

Weak-dollar sentiment post-midterms dissipated faster than

expected, with a likely re-focus on central bank decisions as

interest rates between U.S. and other countries continues to

widen, said OCBC in a note to clients.

The dollar dipped on Wednesday as traders scaled back their

expectations of more pro-business policy moves from U.S.

President Trump after the Democratic Party took control of the

House of Representatives in the mid-term elections.

The Indonesian rupiah led losses to weaken nearly 1

percent against the greenback during the session, in its biggest

intraday drop in almost two months. However, the rupiah was on

course to gain 1.9 percent this week.

Meanwhile, the Korean won fell 0.9 percent

against the dollar and was on track to lose 0.6 percent this

week.

Earlier in the day, the South Korean President Moon Jae-in

fired his top economic policymakers and replaced them with

people already in the government in a move widely seen as

intended to reinforce his controversial policies, which

economists have said were hurting growth.

India's rupee gained 0.4 percent to the dollar as markets

caught up after on-shore trading was closed on Wednesday and

Thursday for public holidays.

"I think the dollar-rupee will rebound and the rupee will

depreciate," said Gao Qi, analyst at Scotiabank.

CHINESE YUAN

The yuan fell 0.2 percent during the day and

edged closer towards the psychologically important 7 to a dollar

mark.

Chinese producer inflation slowed for the fourth straight

month in October, reflecting cooling domestic demand and ebbing

manufacturing activity amid a bitter trade dispute with the

United States.

Markets await Trump and Chinese President Xi's meeting at

the G20 summit later in the month, hoping it will ease some of

the tensions between the two countries.

The yuan was poised to lose 0.9 percent against the

greenback this week.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0551 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 113.900 114.06 +0.14

Sing dlr 1.378 1.3756 -0.14

Taiwan dlr 30.763 30.702 -0.20

Korean won 1127.800 1117.3 -0.93

Baht 33.040 32.885 -0.47

Peso 52.930 52.847 -0.16

Rupiah 14670.000 14535 -0.92

Rupee 72.735 73.00 +0.36

Ringgit 4.177 4.162 -0.36

Yuan 6.946 6.9340 -0.17

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 113.900 112.67 -1.08

Sing dlr 1.378 1.3373 -2.92

Taiwan dlr 30.763 29.848 -2.97

Korean won 1127.800 1070.50 -5.08

Baht 33.040 32.58 -1.39

Peso 52.930 49.977 -5.58

Rupiah 14670.000 13565 -7.53

Rupee 72.735 63.87 -12.19

Ringgit 4.177 4.0440 -3.18

Yuan 6.946 6.5069 -6.32

(Reporting by Niyati Shetty in Bengaluru, editing by Eric

Meijer)