EMERGING MARKETS-Asia stocks rebound on Wall Street cue, FX broadly weaker

(.) * Equities broadly higher * Indonesia to ban export of a commodity * BI expected to hike 25 bps on Thursday * Thai baht, Singapore dollar weaker By Harshita Swaminathan Dec 21 (Reuters) - Most Asian equity markets gained on Wednesday after four days of loss as a higher close on Wall Street overnight helped provide a floor, while most currencies weakened as they struggled for cues in holiday-thinned trading. Philippine stocks rose 0.8%, while Taiwanese stocks rose 0.6%. Markets await consumer confidence data from the United States due late in the Asia day for further cues on the effect of the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening cycle. "The greater focus may be on the U.S. Core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index tomorrow... The data will be looked upon to reflect the pace at which pricing pressures moderate," said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG. Most Asian currencies were weaker, with Thailand's baht weakening the most, at 0.3%, while the Singapore dollar fell 0.2%. The dollar index was last seen about 0.1% higher at 104.074. "In light of 'festive trading', near term FX direction could take greater cues from JPY mover, technical and risk sentiments while thinner market liquidity may exacerbate some of these moves," analysts at OCBC said. Indonesia plans to ban the export of a commodity to develop the local processing industry, the president said, without specifying which commodity. In the past, Indonesia has banned exports of nickel ore and crude palm oil. Indonesia's rupiah was broadly flat, trading at about 15,605 to the dollar, ahead of a key central bank move expected on Thursday. Bank Indonesia (BI) is expected to size down its rate hike to 25 basis points (bps), according to a Reuters poll, after three consecutive 50 bps moves. The bank has raised rates by a cumulative 175 basis points over four meetings since August. The central bank also said it expects 2023 headline inflation to moderate to around 3%. Late on Tuesday, Malaysia's prime minister said the country's GDP growth this year will likely exceed earlier forecasts of 6.5% to 7%, buoyed by its post-COVID-19 economic reopening. The ringgit still weakened about 0.1%, and stocks fell 0.3%. Japan's yen eased about 0.3%, after rising as much as 4.6% on Tuesday after its central bank widened the band around its 10-year bond yield, a move seen as a sign that more policy normalisation may be on the way. Yields in Asia rose for the second consecutive day, with Indonesia's benchmark yield 4.5 bps higher at 6.951%, and Singapore's 2.2 bps higher at 2.917%. HIGHLIGHTS: ** India imposes anti-dumping duty on stainless steel seamless tubes and pipe imports from China ** China reports no new COVID-19 deaths for Tuesday vs five deaths a day earlier Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0405 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % DAILY YTD % % % Japan -0.30 -12.88 -0.74 -8.40 China -0.13 -8.83 -0.10 -15.64 India +0.07 -10.12 0.40 6.37 Indonesia -0.03 -8.68 0.33 3.17 Malaysia -0.14 -6.13 -0.29 -6.67 Philippines +0.11 -7.59 0.73 -8.67 S.Korea +0.12 -7.71 -0.08 -21.70 Singapore -0.17 -0.24 -0.19 3.97 Taiwan +0.06 -9.81 0.60 -21.76 Thailand -0.29 -3.97 0.30 -2.91 (Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)