EMERGING MARKETS-Asian FX dragged lower by soaring dollar, Chinese yuan bucks trend

* Risk appetite dampens on dollar strength after U.S. jobs data * Markets lean towards 75 bp hike ahead of U.S. CPI * China stocks up 0.2% By Riya Sharma Aug 8 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies turned to losses on Monday after a strong U.S. payrolls report bolstered the dollar, while the Chinese yuan steadied after weekend data showed the country's exports had picked up unexpectedly. The baht led losses among broadly lower Asian currencies, skidding as much as 0.7%, while the yuan mostly traded flat, with some inclination towards upward movement. Stocks in Shanghai gained 0.2%. U.S. labour market data on Friday defied recession fears. Jobs growth surged unexpectedly in July, bolstering the case for more super-sized hikes in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and in turn sending the dollar soaring. "The huge outperformance in (the) U.S. July job report drove markets to lean towards a 75 basis-point hike in the September (Fed) meeting with a 70% probability," Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG, wrote in a note. The dollar built on strong gains made after the jobs data and riskier Asian currencies came under downward pressure. U.S. consumer price data for July is due for release on Wednesday. Chinese data out over the weekend showed unexpectedly strong July exports, up 18% from a year earlier. "Despite worries about the possibility of a recession and the consequent decline in China's external demand, a resilient trade surplus and solid export figures continued to keep the Chinese yuan steady and prevented it from weakening," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ. Chinese trade growth this year has been far stronger than anticipated and "it is noteworthy that a revival of demand from emerging markets such as ASEAN and India contributed to China's recent export resilience," Jingyang Chen, Asian FX Strategist at HSBC, wrote in a note. The risk-averse sentiment in Asia also plagued equity markets, with stocks in Singapore set to mark their worst day in more than three weeks, while equities in Manila and Kuala Lumpur were down 0.5% each. According to a Reuters poll, Thailand's central bank on August 10 will raise interest rates for the first time in four years, shifting its focus from economic growth to rising inflation. "The baht has weakened by the most amongst the Asian currencies today but part of that move is largely a bit of a payback from the baht strength that we saw last week ...," said Goh, adding that expectations of higher interest rates should help limit the baht's weakness. Elsewhere, Myanmar's central bank weakened its kyat currency from 1,850 to 2,100 per dollar on Monday, according to a statement published in a state newspaper. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 0.70 basis points at 7.136%​​ ** Top losers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index include Maxis Bhd down 2.12% and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd down 2.08% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0515 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK DAILY YTD % X S S YTD % DAILY % % Japan -0.23 -14.9 <.N2 #VALU #VALU 3 25> E! E! China EC> 8 India -0.43 -6.59 <.NS 0.32 0.57 EI> Indones -0.23 -4.52 <.JK -0.30 7.32 ia SE> Malaysi -0.11 -6.62 <.KL -0.56 -4.75 a SE> Philipp -0.18 -8.36 <.PS -0.45 -10.4 ines I> 8 S.Korea 11> 7 Singapo -0.01 -2.34 <.ST -0.62 4.45 re I> Taiwan -0.23 -7.76 <.TW -0.18 -17.6 II> 2 Thailan -0.75 -6.82 <.SE -0.39 -3.78 d TI> (Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Bradley Perrett)