EM ASIA FX-Most Asia currencies edge up as dollar steadies, S.Korea won leads

(Refiles to remove repeated words in paragraph 7)

* Indonesian c. bank set to maintain key policy rate

* Philippine peso firms despite shares dropping

* S. Korean won firms most, Indian rupee biggest loser in

region

By Aaron Saldanha

April 19 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies inched

higher on Thursday as regional equities firmed and the U.S.

dollar steadied.

Asian equity markets, apart from the Philippines, rose

between 0.2 percent and 1.2 percent, supported by gains on Wall

Street.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies

was little changed around 89.633.

"We have just seen the dollar continuing to pretty much

trade sideways and generally we have seen Asian currencies

largely range trading, as well," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia

research, ANZ Banking Group (Singapore).

"I think the market is waiting for some kind of catalyst to

break out."

The South Korean won outperformed its regional

peers, gaining as much as 0.7 percent to touch a two-week high

of 1,060.90.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo's meeting with North Korea leader

Kim Jong Un, ahead of a planned summit with President Donald

Trump, helped alleviate geopolitical risk, analysts at Mizuho

Bank, Singapore, wrote in a note.

On Wednesday, Trump said Pompeo's meeting with the North

Korean leader last week "went very smoothly", but warned he

would call the summit if he did not think it would produce

results.

"Near term, we could see the won strengthen further. The key

area I am watching now is the "Ten Sixty" (1,060) level, that is

a key downside support in dollar-Korea terms," said ANZ's Goh.

"I think we could well see that level getting tested in the

near term."

Singapore's dollar clocked in a small gain, while

the Taiwan dollar firmed 0.05 percent. The Thai baht

gained 0.1 percent.

The yuan also firmed 0.1 percent, furthering

progress made on Wednesday after the central bank surprised

markets late on Tuesday by trimming the amount of reserves banks

must keep, raising concerns over the economy's health.

The Indian rupee fell as much as about 0.3 percent,

marking its lowest level since September. The currency is

sensitive to higher oil prices as the commodity accounts for the

largest portion of the country's trade deficit.

India is due to release data on its foreign exchange

reserves tomorrow.

PHILIPPINE PESO

The Philippine peso displayed resilience to gain 0.05

percent in the face of a 3.2 percent drop in the country's

equity benchmark on Thursday. In the year to yesterday's

close, investors have pulled out $682 million from Philippine

equities, according to exchange data.

ANZ's Goh said that the Philippines' central bank is the

region's only bank which has had declining reserves, hinting at

their participation support for the peso.

He added that the cost of shorting the peso led to market

participants being reticient to do so.

INDONESIAN RUPIAH

Bank Indonesia (BI), the country's central bank, is set to

maintain its key policy rate on Thursday, replicating its

actions in its past six meetings.

All 14 economists polled by Reuters see BI keeping 7-day

reverse repurchase rate steady, with the deposit facility

and lending facility rates being left

untouched, as well.

"As inflation remains moderate, this also defers the need to

hike at this juncture given more prevalent use of price control

measures such as new fuel distribution regulation on top of the

price freezes on fuel and electricity tariff," Mizuho Bank

analysts wrote.

In the year to date, the rupiah has weakened about

1.6 percent against the U.S. dollar, supplementing last year

slip of around 0.7 percent.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0518 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 107.420 107.23 -0.18

Sing dlr 1.309 1.3095 +0.03

Taiwan dlr 29.350 29.366 +0.05

Korean won 1061.300 1068.7 +0.70

Baht 31.200 31.23 +0.10

Peso 52.043 52.07 +0.05

Rupiah 13779.000 13773 -0.04

Rupee 65.760 65.66 -0.15

Ringgit 3.888 3.888 0.00

Yuan 6.266 6.2745 +0.14

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 107.420 112.67 +4.89

Sing dlr 1.309 1.3373 +2.15

Taiwan dlr 29.350 29.848 +1.70

Korean won 1061.300 1070.50 +0.87

Baht 31.200 32.58 +4.42

Peso 52.043 49.93 -4.06

Rupiah 13779.000 13565 -1.55

Rupee 65.760 63.87 -2.87

Ringgit 3.888 4.0440 +4.01

Yuan 6.266 6.5069 +3.85

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim

Coghill)