EM ASIA FX-Chinese yuan firms on weaker dollar, higher fixing

(Adds text, updates prices)

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies firmed on Thursday

as the U.S. dollar weakened after the release of the minutes of

the Federal Reserve's last meeting revealed dovish tones.

The minutes showed some of the central bankers' concerns

regarding the inflation outlook, with emphasis placed on

economic data in determining the timing of future rate rises.

"The narrative in the Asian currencies is almost like a

reflationary storyline. That is really spilling over from last

week in the sense we have had just continual positive GDP prints

across the Asian space and this has just got everybody wondering

what is the next central bank narrative going to be," said

Stepehen Innes, head of trading for Asia at Oanda in Singapore.

Local currencies have been supported by strong economic

data, with the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand having

reported third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers

which have beaten expectations since Nov. 16. Malaysia grew at

the fastest pace in over three years.

The Korean won firmed for the third day and was

0.14 percent stronger, the second most in the region, with a

week to go for the Bank of Korea's monetary policy meeting with

expectations of a rate hike to be announced on Nov. 30.

The Taiwanese dollar, likewise, strengthened for

the third consecutive day while the Taiwanese benchmark equity

index rose gained 0.38 percent. The index hit its highest in 27

years on Wednesday, boosted by information technology stocks.

Indonesia's rupiah and the Indian rupee

gained 0.09 percent and 0.14 percent on the day, respectively.

SINGAPORE DOLLAR

The Singapore dollar was marginally lower ahead of

industrial output data for October, while the city-state

reported GDP numbers well ahead of expectations and updated its

GDP forecast for the rest of the year. The currency had gained

for the previous two sessions.

GDP in the third quarter grew the fastest in nearly four

years, rising to 5.2 percent from 4.6 percent a year previously.

However, core inflation in October remained steady at 1.5

percent.

Singapore revised its full-year 2017 growth estimate to 3.0

percent to 3.5 percent due to improved global demand.

A Ministry of Trade and Industry official said monetary

policy was "appropriate" in 2017.

CHINESE YUAN

The yuan firmed the most in the region, over 0.3

percent, on Thursday after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set

the fixing rate at the srongest in five weeks.

The yuan's official midpoint was set at 6.6021,

0.41 percent firmer than the previous fix of 6.6290.

The yuan breached the key mark of 6.6 to the dollar for the

first time since Nov. 2 and liquidity tightness in the offshore

yuan market eased on Thursday with its borrowing costs falling

back to normal level.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0531 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0531 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 111.29 111.2 -0.08

Sing dlr 1.3474 1.3468 -0.04

Taiwan dlr 29.989 30.020 +0.10

Korean won 1088 1089.1 +0.14

Baht 32.710 32.72 +0.03

Peso 50.650 50.62 -0.06

Rupiah* 13512 13525 +0.10

Rupee* 64.82 64.91 +0.14

Ringgit 4.112 4.11 -0.05

Yuan 6.593 6.6142 +0.33

* Closed for market holiday

Change so far in 2017

Currency Latest bid End 2016 Pct Move

Japan yen 111.29 117.07 +5.19

Sing dlr 1.3474 1.4490 +7.54

Taiwan dlr 29.989 32.279 +7.64

Korean won 1088 1207.70 +11.04

Baht 32.710 35.80 +9.45

Peso 50.650 49.72 -1.84

Rupiah 13512 13470 -0.31

Rupee 64.820 67.92 +4.78

Ringgit 4.112 4.4845 +9.06

Yuan 6.593 6.9467 +5.37

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru, Additional reporting

by Karthika Namboothiri; Editing by Kim Coghill)