EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies steady as dollar rally pauses ahead of ECB

* S. Korean won best performer in region

* ECB meet in focus

* Malaysian ringgit, Taiwan dollar slip

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Chris Thomas

April 26 - Most emerging Asian currencies were steady

against the dollar on Thursday as the U.S. currency paused from

a rally driven by surging Treasury yields, while focus turned to

the European Central Bank's policy review later in the global

day.

The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies

was marginally lower at 91.142 at 0435 GMT, after having

risen to a high of 91.261 on Wednesday.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is set to keep policy

unchanged on Thursday, playing down worries over recent softness

in the euro zone economy and leaving the door open to ending its

lavish bond purchase scheme by the close of the year.

"The U.S. dollar is breaking out and if the ECB is even

slightly dovish tonight – or perhaps not hawkish – the euro

could break wide open and with that, the big surge in the USD

will have truly begun," Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at

CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said in a note.

The dollar hit multi-month highs against a basket of

currencies recently, bolstered by higher U.S. Treasury yields,

led by the 10-year benchmark breaching the 3 percent threshold

this week for the first time in four years.

In the region, the Indonesian rupiah struggled to

recover from an over two-year low, edging up 0.1 percent in the

afternoon session.

Indonesia is prone to capital outflows due to high foreign

ownership of government bonds, and its central bank has tried to

mitigate rupiah risk by buying sovereign bonds and selling

foreign currency. It has also urged businesses to hedge their

foreign exchange needs beyond minimum requirements.

Traders said Bank Indonesia was seen buying rupiah in the

foreign exchange market, intervening around the 13,930 per

dollar mark.

McKenna said the dollar appears to be set for another big

rally, which could potentially push the rupiah through 14,000,

and even beyond 14,200. However, "the central bank will

certainly fight that," he said.

The rest of the regional currencies made small gains, with

India's rupee up 0.2 percent versus the dollar, the

Singapore dollar 0.1 percent higher and the South Korean

won rising as much as 0.3 percent.

Singapore's industrial production grew slightly more than

expected in March from a year earlier as electronics output

continued to show strong growth, data showed on Thursday.

On the losing ledger, Malaysia's ringgit slipped for

a sixth straight session, shedding 0.2 percent to hit a

five-week low.

The Taiwan dollar also fell 0.2 percent, touching

its weakest level since early Jan.

SOUTH KOREAN WON

The won, which is closely tied to equity flows, recovered

from three sessions of falls after tech giant Samsung

Electronics posted a record quarterly profit and

helped lift the KOSPI stock index more than 1 percent.

Earlier in the day, GDP data showed the country's economy

bounced back last quarter, buoyed by booming exports of data

memory chips and a boost from government spending, although

private consumption was sluggish.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0531 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 109.300 109.41 +0.10

Sing dlr 1.328 1.3282 +0.05

Taiwan dlr 29.692 29.660 -0.11

Korean won 1080.000 1080.6 +0.06

Baht 31.590 31.58 -0.03

Peso 52.247 52.22 -0.05

Rupiah 13905.000 13918 +0.09

Rupee 66.853 66.90 +0.07

Ringgit 3.918 3.91 -0.20

Yuan 6.324 6.3270 +0.04

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 109.300 112.67 +3.08

Sing dlr 1.328 1.3373 +0.73

Taiwan dlr 29.692 29.848 +0.53

Korean won 1080.000 1070.50 -0.88

Baht 31.590 32.58 +3.13

Peso 52.247 49.977 -4.34

Rupiah 13905.000 13565 -2.45

Rupee 66.853 63.87 -4.46

Ringgit 3.918 4.0440 +3.22

Yuan 6.324 6.5069 +2.89

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Additional reporting

by Fransiska Nangoy)