EM ASIA FX-Most Asian currencies weaken as rising U.S. yields bolster dollar

* Indonesian rupiah hits lowest level in over 2 yrs

* Yuan sole gainer in region

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Chris Thomas

April 23 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies slipped

on Monday as rising U.S. bond yields buoyed the dollar, a move

that particularly hurt sentiment toward countries where foreign

investors have large domestic bond holdings.

The dollar's index against a basket of six major peers rose

as much as 0.2 percent to 90.447.

"This was expected to happen given the markets' intense

focus on U.S. yields, especially 10-year yields, which ratcheted

higher," said Stephen Innes, head of trading APAC at Oanda.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yield touched a peak of 2.979 percent

, the highest since January 2014, adding to gains

made last week after Federal Reserve officials signalled further

interest rate increases in 2018 thanks to evidence of steady

U.S. growth.

The Indonesian rupiah slipped 0.1 percent to its

weakest since January 2016.

"Rising U.S. bond yields triggered the drop in the rupiah.

It's one area in the region that's totally exposed - most of the

bonds are owned by foreign investors," said Innes.

Foreigners held 39 percent of Indonesian government bonds at

the end of March, data from Bank Indonesia showed.

Innes also said recent oil prices, which had hit multi-year

highs, also added to bearishness in large segments of the Asian

market and could hurt currencies of oil importing countries,

such as India and the Philippines.

The Philippine peso, the worst performing currency in

the region so far this year, was 0.2 percent weaker.

The Indian rupee fell as much as 0.2 percent to its

lowest level since March 2017, and was headed for its sixth

straight session of declines.

The rupee fell 0.5 percent on Friday while Indian bond

yields spiked after the minutes of the monetary policy panel

meeting suggested that they were likely to take a more hawkish

tone starting as early as June.

The Thai baht slipped 0.3 percent, while the South

Korean won was 0.2 percent weaker.

Data showed Thailand's customs-cleared annual exports

increased at a slower pace in March compared with the previous

month, due partly to a high comparative base last year, and the

growth was slightly below forecast.

The Chinese yuan was the only gainer in the

region, up 0.1 percent.

However, Innes said a further pick up in the dollar could

see even the yuan weaken off "considerably".

TAIWAN DOLLAR

The Taiwan dollar lost 0.3 percent to hit its

weakest level since mid-Jan.

"There's negative outlook in the semiconductor area," said

Innes.

"We've seen the Apple stock wobble a little bit, so that's

playing negatively into the tech sector."

The Taiwan SE Weighted Index was down 0.8 percent at

close, weighed down by the information technology sector.

The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against

the dollar at 0604 GMT.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 107.790 107.65 -0.13

Sing dlr 1.317 1.3161 -0.07

Taiwan dlr 29.495 29.407 -0.30

Korean won 1069.000 1067.3 -0.16

Baht 31.420 31.31 -0.35

Peso 52.133 52.095 -0.07

Rupiah 13890.000 13875 -0.11

Rupee 66.205 66.12 -0.13

Ringgit 3.896 3.895 -0.03

Yuan 6.295 6.2976 +0.04

Change so far in 2018

Currency Latest bid End 2017 Pct Move

Japan yen 107.790 112.67 +4.53

Sing dlr 1.317 1.3373 +1.54

Taiwan dlr 29.495 29.848 +1.20

Korean won 1069.000 1070.50 +0.14

Baht 31.420 32.58 +3.69

Peso 52.133 49.93 -4.23

Rupiah 13890.000 13565 -2.34

Rupee 66.205 63.87 -3.53

Ringgit 3.896 4.0440 +3.80

Yuan 6.295 6.5069 +3.37

(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)