EMERGING MARKETS-Asian FX, stocks cheer U.S. data; Indonesia rates in focus

* S. Korean won, Singapore dollar rise most * U.S. Dec consumer confidence at 8-month high * Dollar index pressured * BI expected to hike rates by 25 bps * Nearly all equity markets gain By Harshita Swaminathan Dec 22 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies and equities were firmer on Thursday, with the mood buoyed by a rebound in U.S. consumer confidence and as markets awaited a likely rate hike from Bank Indonesia. The South Korean won rose 0.7% to trade at 1,277 to the dollar, its strongest since June, while the Singapore dollar strengthened 0.3%. Data from the United States showed December consumer confidence at an eight-month high, rebounding more than expected, as inflation pulled back and the labour market remained strong. Wall Street indexes logged their biggest daily gains so far this month on Wednesday, further helped by positive earnings reports. "Apparently, markets are no longer taking good (data) news to be bad (policy) news," said Mizuho Bank analyst Vishnu Varathan. "That teeters on over-confidence of a 'Goldilocks' boost to U.S. consumer confidence that will lift the economy (and markets), but not lead to hawkish outcomes." However, the U.S. data also showed fewer households planning to make big-ticket purchases over the next six months, indicating fears of a recession had not evaporated. "For now, a low-volume environment and limited catalysts may aid to provide a temporary breather for the risk environment," said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG. The positive data also put pressure on the U.S. currency, with the dollar index last seen around 103.94, 0.3% lower, which also helped Asian currencies. Indonesia's rupiah was steady at 15,587 per dollar, ahead of the central bank's policy decision later in the day. Bank Indonesia is expected to deliver a 25 basis point (bps) hike to the 7-day reverse repo rate, after three consecutive 50 basis points hikes, a Reuters poll showed. "Not only must Bank Indonesia remain vigilant to still sticky underlying inflation...macro-stability risks from hawkish Fed jolts remain a non-negligible risk and Bank Indonesia's biggest bugbear" Varathan said. The Indonesian benchmark yield eased and was last seen at 6.920%, 0.9 bps lower. Malaysian and Philippine yields were unchanged at 4.052% and 6.942%, respectively. Indonesian stocks also fell 0.2%, while nearly all other equity markets in the region trended higher. Taiwan equities gained the most, rising 1.2% led by semiconductor stocks, while South Korea's stocks were 0.7% higher. Philippine and Singapore stocks also gained 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively. HIGHLIGHTS: ** India's govt expected to focus on fiscal consolidation in upcoming national budget, slowing growth to limit spending, finds Reuters poll ** Thailand 2-year bond auction fetches average accepted yield of 1.26533% ** Taiwan stock index pulled up by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing up 1.9%, MediaTek up 1.5% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0317 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % DAILY YTD % % % Japan +0.59 -12.61 0.40 -7.99 China +0.06 -8.91 0.46 -15.31 India 0.00 -10.24 0.00 4.87 Indonesia -0.03 -8.60 -0.16 3.47 Malaysia +0.09 -6.00 0.09 -6.62 Philippines +0.01 -7.42 0.77 -7.74 S.Korea +0.68 -6.91 0.82 -21.14 Singapore +0.27 +0.13 0.49 4.76 Taiwan +0.14 -9.71 1.19 -20.94 Thailand -0.01 -3.69 0.24 -2.64 (Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)