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EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies firm, India's rupee buoyed as oil prices ease

* China's export data beats expectations amid trade row with

U.S.

* Yuan set for fifth weekly decline

* Rupee up as inflation rises above RBI target and oil

prices fall

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Nikhil Nainan

July 13 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies edged up

on Friday, shrugging off better-than-expected Chinese trade data

as markets took a breather from a volatile week of Sino-U.S.

trade tensions.

Despite China's trade surplus coming in at its highest ever

for any single month, according to Reuters data going back to

2008, the Chinese yuan cooled after earlier advances.

"The trade data, while is slightly better-than-expectations,

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does pre-date the implementation of the tariffs and markets at

this stage are choosing to ignore the data because they are all

largely historical," said Khoon Goh, ANZ's head of Asia

research.

The crucial data here would be from July onwards to gauge

the impact of the tariffs on activities, Goh added.

Friday brings the culmination of a volatile week that saw

the U.S. threaten to impose new 10 percent tariffs on an

additional $200 billion in Chinese imports, and saw the yuan

depreciate for a fifth straight week.

China's second quarter economic growth due at the start of

next week should provide a clearer indication of how the world's

second-biggest economy performed.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against

a basket of six major rivals, was firmer in Asian trade and has

been benefiting all week from a flight to safety as investors

fret over trade conflict concerns.

Singapore's dollar was little changed at 1.364. Data

out earlier in the morning showed that economic growth missed

forecasts as worsening U.S.-China trade tensions clouded the

outlook for the trade-reliant city-state.

The South Korean won, a currency that is

sensitive to trade developments out of China, gained 0.2 percent

to 1,124.1 per dollar.

On Thursday, the won slid as much as 0.9 percent after the

country's central bank kept rates unchanged as expected, but a

dissenting vote on the seven-member board appeared to raise the

chance of a rate hike in the coming months.

"The won will be the go-to trade on the escalation of trade

war tensions, but in the meantime, the RMB complex will continue

to dictate the pace of play," said Stephen Innes, head of

trading APAC at Oanda.

INDIA'S RUPEE GAINS

The region's worst performer this year, the Indian rupee

, strengthened 0.2 percent to 68.42 to the dollar,

marking an end to a week which saw oil prices ease as well as

weaker-than-expected inflation growth.

Annual consumer prices rose 5 percent in June,

a five-month high, bolstering the chance the central bank will

again raise interest rates at its next policy meeting in August.

"Upside risks to inflation and a need to maintain financial

markets' stability will keep monetary policy on a tightening

bias," wrote Radhika Rao, an economist with DBS.

tmonth in which inflation was higher than the Reserve Bank

of India's medium-term target of 4 percent.

For a country that imports about 80 percent of its crude oil

requirements, a heavy fall in oil prices helped support the

rupee's weekly gain.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0533 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 112.620 112.55 -0.06

Sing dlr 1.364 1.3630 -0.05

Taiwan dlr 30.525 30.542 +0.06

Korean won 1124.100 1125.9 +0.16

Baht 33.240 33.26 +0.06

Peso 53.500 53.393 -0.20

Rupiah 14375.000 14375 +0.00

Rupee 68.420 68.57 +0.22

Ringgit 4.038 4.0395 +0.04

Yuan 6.672 6.6730 +0.01

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 112.620 112.67 +0.04

Sing dlr 1.364 1.3373 -1.94

Taiwan dlr 30.525 29.848 -2.22

Korean won 1124.100 1070.50 -4.77

Baht 33.240 32.58 -1.99

Peso 53.500 49.977 -6.59

Rupiah 14375.000 13565 -5.63

Rupee 68.420 63.87 -6.65

Ringgit 4.038 4.0440 +0.15

Yuan 6.672 6.5069 -2.48

(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru

Editing by Jacqueline Wong)