EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies firmer as dollar sags on dovish Yellen comments

(Adds text, updates prices)

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Asian currencies firmed on Wednesday on

the back of a weakened U.S. dollar after Federal Reserve chair

Janet stuck by her prediction that U.S. inflation would rebound

but added she was "very uncertain" of it happening.

"She mentioned quite specifically that inflation

expectations could be drifting lower, which is something she has

not spoken about before," said Nizam Idris, head of strategy,

fixed income and currencies at Macquarie Bank.

"Basically, she has cast some doubt over the Fed’s previous

view that the low inflation that we see currently is transitory

in nature." Idris said.

"So, both those twists in her opinions in my view are

dovish and therefore I think the dollar has weakened from those

comments."

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of six major currencies, fell from a one-week

high of 94.165 overnight.

Among Asian currencies, the Malaysian ringgit

strengthened over 0.4 percent after central bank Governor

Muhammad Ibrahim said the currency was "far from relecting its

fair value", signalling a desire for the exchange rate to build

on its recovery from a sharp selloff last year.

"BNM (Bank Negara Malaysia) would prefer a stronger ringgit

to take the edge off rising prices given their latest forecast

suggesting inflation wll be at the upper end of the forecast

range," Stephen Innes, head of trading APAC at Oanda, wrote in a

note on Wednesday.

Malaysia's annual inflation rate is likely to moderate to 4

percent for October from 4.3 percent in September, according to

a Reuters poll.

The Taiwanese dollar strengthened for a second day,

gaining 0.3 percent to 29.962 to the greenback, its highest in

the more than two months.

Taiwan's benchmark stock index rose 1 percent to its

highest level in over 27 years, propped up by information

technology stocks.

China's yuan firmed 0.2 percent while the Indian

Rupee strengthened 0.2 percent.

The Singapore dollar traded marginally higher ahead

of gross domestic product (GDP)and inflation data on Thursday. A

poll by Reuters indicates the Monetary Authority of Singapore's

(MAS) core inflation measure in October likely rose 1.5 percent

from a year earlier.

THAI BAHT

Thailand's customs-cleared trade data released on Wednesday

showed exports climbed 13.1 percent in October from a year

earlier after rising 12.2 percent in September, beating the

median forecast of an 11.8 percent rise from economists polled

by Reuters.

However, imports zooming 13.5 percent in October resulted in

a trade surplus of $0.21 billion for the month, well below the

forecast of $1.3 billion.

The Baht gained 0.12 percent to 32.74 after the data were

published.

S.KOREAN WON

The won led the gains in Southeast Asia, gaining 0.45

percent to 1,091 against the dollar, on track for its second

session of gains.

"BoK (Bank of Korea) has kept its policy rate unchanged amid

steady growth and benign inflationary pressure. Nevertheless,

the emergence of a dissenter calling for a rate hike as well as

more hawkish comments from the governor in the latest meeting

has signaled that the next move will be a hike," wrote Vishnu

Varathan, head, economics & strategy at Mizuho Bank in Singapore

in a note.

The BoK is scheduled to hold a monetary policy meeting on

Nov. 30.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0459 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 112.21 112.43 +0.20

Sing dlr 1.3539 1.3542 +0.02

Taiwan dlr 29.962 30.060 +0.33

Korean won 1091 1095.8 +0.49

Baht 32.730 32.78 +0.15

Peso 50.650 50.74 +0.18

Rupiah 13521 13532 +0.08

Rupee 64.75 64.89 +0.20

Ringgit 4.121 4.138 +0.41

Yuan 6.621 6.6305 +0.14

Change so far in 2017

Currency Latest bid End 2016 Pct Move

Japan yen 112.21 117.07 +4.33

Sing dlr 1.3539 1.4490 +7.02

Taiwan dlr 29.962 32.279 +7.73

Korean won 1091 1207.70 +10.75

Baht 32.730 35.80 +9.38

Peso 50.650 49.72 -1.84

Rupiah 13521 13470 -0.38

Rupee 64.753 67.92 +4.89

Ringgit 4.121 4.4845 +8.82

Yuan 6.621 6.9467 +4.92

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim

Coghill)