EMERGING MARKETS-Asian currencies weaken as recession fears dent risk appetite

* Malaysia to head to polls, ringgit down 0.5% * Selloff in Asian bonds continues * Philippines posts record trade deficit * Taiwan stocks see worst day since March 2020 By Harshita Swaminathan Oct 11 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies weakened on Tuesday, battered by tepid risk sentiment as investors continued to exit regional bonds, while the Malaysian ringgit hit a fresh 24-year low after the country's parliament got dissolved. The ringgit fell as much as 0.5% to trade at 4.670 to the dollar, its lowest since January 1998. Stocks in Malaysia dropped as much as 1.6% to their weakest levels since May 2020, and bond yields rose 2 basis points to 4.404%. Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Monday announced the dissolution of parliament, paving the way for an early election, aiming to win a stronger public mandate and quell infighting in his coalition. "A strong mandate would be helpful, but the MYR will ultimately depend on the priorities of the new government," said Wei-Liang Chang, an FX and credit strategist at DBS. "Markets will want to see increased fiscal consolidation, more pro-growth policies, on top of a greater openness to trade and investment." The polls are expected to be held within 60 days of parliament dissolution. Yields in Indonesia rose for a fourth consecutive session, up 3.2 basis points to 7.310%, with the currency down 0.3%. "As yield differentials between Asian bonds and (U.S. Treasuries) have been compressed, there have been outflows from some Asian bond markets, which added to the weakness of their respective currencies," said Frances Cheung, a rates strategist at OCBC Bank. The Thai baht and Singapore dollar weakened 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively. Major central banks have been tightening their monetary policies at the fastest pace in several decades, and many traders fear this may end culminate in a global recession. The Philippines' trade deficit for August came in at a record $6 billion, with imports rising 26%, compared with an ING estimate of 22%. The peso, however, edged 0.1% higher. DBS's Chang said the currency was likely to be supported by the central bank. Markets also await U.S. inflation data due late on Thursday. Analysts expect headline inflation to have pulled back slightly in September. Korean markets resumed trade after a holiday-extended weekend and caught up on Monday's regional sell-off, with the won weakening 1.5% and stocks dropping nearly 2%. The Bank of Korea is expected to raise rates by 50 bps on Wednesday. U.S. stocks fell on Monday, with negative sentiment broadly tied to chipmakers and global slowdown concerns. Taiwan's main stock index fell as much as 4.4%, the worst singe-day percentage fall since March 2020, dragged down by selloffs in semiconductor stocks. Other Asian stock markets also broadly trended lower, with markets in Indonesia and Thailand losing about 0.2% each. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing down 8.3%, top drag on main index; United Microelectronics down 7%, Hon Hai Precision Industry down 3.3% ** Indonesia retail sales in August rise 4.9% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0629 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % DAILY YTD % % % Japan -0.03 -21.03 -2.64 -8.30 China -0.44 -11.56 0.09 -18.22 India -0.08 -9.78 -0.36 -1.01 Indonesia -0.33 -7.23 -0.20 6.06 Malaysia -0.47 -10.84 -1.48 -11.63 Philippines +0.11 -13.48 0.26 -17.90 S.Korea -1.52 -17.11 -1.93 -26.46 Singapore -0.16 -6.29 0.03 -0.49 Taiwan -0.60 -13.09 -4.35 -28.06 Thailand -0.59 -12.51 -0.22 -5.46 (Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan, Additional reporting by Jaskiran Singh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)