EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies rise in wake of China c.bank move

(Adds detail, updates prices)

By Devika Syamnath

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies strengthened on

Monday after China's central bank took steps late last week to

rein in sharp declines in the yuan, but the latest round of

sabre-rattling in the Sino-U.S. trade war dented sentiment

across markets.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Friday said it would

require banks to keep reserves equivalent to 20 percent of their

clients' dollar forward positions, essentially making it more

costly to short the yuan and helping it rebound from a near

15-month low against the greenback.

"The move signals that policymakers' appetite for a weaker

RMB from here is limited, although PBOC keenly stressed that the

reserve requirement is a non-discriminatory, price-based

prudential tool, not a capital control," Mizuho Bank said in a

note.

A stronger yuan typically bolsters emerging currencies in

Asia, with the Taiwan dollar and Philippine peso

strengthening 0.3 and 0.1 percent respectively on Monday.

Indonesia's rupiah edged up 0.1 percent amid data

showing Indonesia's economy beat forecasts to grow at its

fastest clip in 4-1/2 years in April-June.

Elsewhere, the dollar index, a measure of the

greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was 0.2

percent higher after U.S. jobs data reinforced investor

expectations the Federal Reserve would gradually raise interest

rates this year.

China's yuan

The yuan seesawed in a narrow range on Monday, as the trade

tensions between Beijing and Washington overshadowed the central

bank's attempts to shore up the yuan.

Chinese state media on Monday lashed out at U.S. President

Donald Trump's trade policies in an unusually personal attack.

That came after China's finance ministry on Friday unveiled

new sets of additional tariffs on over 5,000 goods imported from

the United States worth $60 billion. The move was in response to

the Trump administration's proposal of a 25-percent tariff on

$200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

"Although China's absolute retaliation (on trade) is much

smaller, from a percentage perspective, China's (tariff) lists

have covered about 80 percent of Chinese imports from the U.S.,

much higher than the about 50 percent ratio proposed by the

U.S.," OCBC said in a note to clients.

"This is a surprise in our view as it shows that China does

not fear further escalation of the trade war. Nevertheless, this

could be bad for market sentiment," the Singaporean bank said.

China's central bank set the yuan's daily midpoint

at 6.8513 per dollar, its weakest level since May 31,

2017, but largely matching forecasts.

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 111.310 111.25 -0.05

Sing dlr 1.367 1.3663 -0.02

Taiwan dlr 30.607 30.706 +0.32

Korean won 1123.200 1127.6 +0.39

Baht 33.240 33.25 +0.03

Peso 53.023 53.055 +0.06

Rupiah 14470.000 14490 +0.14

Rupee 68.623 68.61 -0.03

Ringgit 4.075 4.08 +0.12

Yuan 6.830 6.8288 -0.02

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 111.310 112.67 +1.22

Sing dlr 1.367 1.3373 -2.14

Taiwan dlr 30.607 29.848 -2.48

Korean won 1123.200 1070.50 -4.69

Baht 33.240 32.58 -1.99

Peso 53.023 49.977 -5.74

Rupiah 14470.000 13565 -6.25

Rupee 68.623 63.87 -6.93

Ringgit 4.075 4.0440 -0.76

Yuan 6.830 6.5069 -4.73

(Reporting by Devika Syamnath in Bengaluru

Editing by Joseph Radford)