EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies up, yuan leads gains on easing U.S.-China tensions

* Yuan strengthens as much as 0.4 pct

* Rupee continues to weaken but pares losses

* Philippine central bank meeting due Thursday

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Niyati Shetty

Dec 12 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies edged up against

the dollar on Wednesday as signs of easing U.S.-China trade

tensions boosted risk appetite, with the Chinese yuan leading

gains.

The Indian rupee, on the other hand, eased off a little on a

sharp bounce in oil prices and as investors remained cautious

after the appointment of Shaktikanta Das as the new Reserve Bank

of India governor.

The Chinese yuan strengthened as much as 0.4

percent to 6.873 in early trade, but by 0515 GMT it had pared

some of its gains.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview with Reuters,

said talks were taking place with Beijing and he would not raise

tariffs until he was sure about a deal.

Further soothing the tense relations between the world's

largest economies, Trump said he would intervene in the Justice

Department's case against a top executive at China's Huawei

Technologies if it served national interests or helped

close a trade deal with China.

Markets rallied on Tuesday after a Trump administration

official said that China agreed to cut tariffs on U.S. built

cars and auto parts to 15 percent from the current 40 percent.

"This does signal a small step towards trying to work on a

consensus to reduce trade tensions and work on a deal that could

satisfy the U.S. trade demands and allow trade to normalize or

at least prevent another round of escalation of tensions," said

Chang Wei Liang, FX strategist at Mizuho Bank.

"Asian markets are somewhat buoyed by this development."

The Taiwan dollar tacked on 0.2 percent against

the greenback to a one week high, while Korean won

and the Thai Bhat also advanced a little. The Malaysian

rinngit trod water.

Gains in the Philippine peso were capped ahead of the

country's central bank policy meeting on Thursay. Analysts

expect the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to hold interest rates

steady after five consecutive rate hikes.

INDIAN RUPEE CAUTIOUS

The rupee weakened 0.2 percent to 72.010 per dollar

as investors took stock of the changes at the helm of the

central bank.

Das, an ex-finance ministry official, was ushered into the

top post in a swift appointment a day after the surprise

resignation of former governor Urjit Patel. It followed clashes

with the government, which wants more economy boosting measures

ahead of a general election.

In a note to clients, OCBC Bank said "the appointment of

Shaktikanta Das (former bureaucrat) as the new RBI governor is

likely to fuel more dovish expectations of the RBI’s posture,

and also of RBI independence."

The country's inflation data is due later in the day, with

November inflation expected to have cooled to a 16-month low.

"There could be scope for volatility depending on how the

RBI monetary meeting on Friday evolves," said Chang.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0515 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 113.450 113.37 -0.07

Sing dlr 1.373 1.3734 +0.04

Taiwan dlr 30.834 30.894 +0.19

Korean won 1128.300 1130.1 +0.16

Baht 32.760 32.79 +0.09

Peso 52.650 52.68 +0.06

Rupiah 14600.000 14595 -0.03

Rupee 72.010 71.85 -0.22

Ringgit 4.180 4.183 +0.07

Yuan 6.885 6.8989 +0.20

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 113.450 112.67 -0.69

Sing dlr 1.373 1.3373 -2.59

Taiwan dlr 30.834 29.848 -3.20

Korean won 1128.300 1070.50 -5.12

Baht 32.760 32.58 -0.55

Peso 52.650 49.93 -5.17

Rupiah 14600.000 13565 -7.09

Rupee 72.010 63.87 -11.30

Ringgit 4.180 4.0440 -3.25

Yuan 6.885 6.5069 -5.49

(Reporting by Niyati Shetty in Bengaluru

Editing by Shri Navaratnam)