EMERGING MARKETS-Indonesian rupiah, Philippine peso lead Asian FX lower on China slowdown

* China GDP +2.9% in Oct-Dec, slower than +3.9% in Q3 * Singapore's Dec non-oil domestic exports fall 20.6% * Taiwan Q4 GDP seen growing 1.3% - Reuters poll By Jaskiran Singh Jan 17 (Reuters) - Indonesia's rupiah and the Philippine peso led a fall among emerging Asian currencies on Tuesday, after the region's top trading partner and global manufacturing powerhouse China logged one of its lowest annual growth rates in nearly half a century. China's economy, the world's second-largest, grew 2.9% in October-December, while the yearly growth of 3.0% significantly missed the official target of "around 5.5%", as the country was hit hard by stringent COVID curbs and a property market slump. The yuan depreciated 0.5% against the dollar and the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.4% after the data. However, China's sudden shift towards ending mobility curbs and reopening international borders have given analysts reasons to be optimistic. "With a stronger end to 2022 than we had expected, plus indications of stronger retail expenditure ahead, the outlook for GDP growth in 2023 has improved compared to our prior outlook," analysts at ING wrote in a note, forecasting 5.0% growth this year. Equities in Southeast Asia were also under pressure, with shares in the Philippines and South Korea losing more than 1% each to be the top losers, while those in Singapore and Malaysia shed 0.2% each. Josh Gilbert, a markets analyst at Israeli online brokerage firm eToro, however, said China's reopening makes emerging market equities more attractive after a steep fall in share prices and a drop in equity valuations seen last year. In Indonesia, the benchmark in Jakarta soared 1.3%, leading gains in the region and marking its fourth straight day of gains. The rupiah depreciated up to 0.8%, breaking a four-day rally and tracking its worst day in over a month, if losses hold. Bank Indonesia on Thursday is expected to deliver a second 25 basis points rate hike after three consecutive half-point hikes between September and November, a Reuters poll showed. Additionally, the survey predicted Bank Indonesia would take a softer approach with rates, with no clear majority on where rates would peak. The Philippine peso, emerging as the second-biggest loser, weakened 0.4% while its stock market slumped about 1.1%. On the rupiah, Gilbert said traders were cautious ahead of the Bank Of Japan's (BOJ) policy decision and took some profits after a strong run in 2022. Meanwhile, he added that the Phillippine peso fell on concerns over a global recession and after the currency rallied strongly towards seven-month highs. Globally, markets are rife with speculation that the BOJ will make further tweaks to, or fully abandon, its yield control policy at its meeting this week. Elsewhere in Asia, the Malaysian ringgit and South Korean won fell 0.3%, respectively, while Thailand's baht was listless. Singapore's dollar was little changed, while its stocks fell 0.1%. The city-state reported a 20.6% year-on-year decline in non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in December 2022, with falls in both electronics and non-electronic products. Separately, a Reuters poll showed that Taiwan's expanded much more slowly in the fourth quarter compared to the prior quarter. Taiwan's dollar fell 0.2% while stocks in Taipei were marginally lower. HIGHLIGHTS: ** China's population shrinks for the first time since 1961 ** Davos 2023-Investcorp targets Indonesia to expand Southeast Asia footprint ** EXPLAINER-Why Malaysia is considering a ban on palm oil exports to the European Union Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0535 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD % % Japan -0.08 +1.92 1.27 0.21 China India -0.27 +1.08 0.54 -0.63 Indonesia -0.69 +2.77 1.28 -1.13 Malaysia -0.28 +1.73 -0.19 -0.32 Philippine -0.40 +1.74 -1.08 6.14 s S.Korea Singapore -0.05 +1.37 -0.14 0.85 Taiwan -0.20 +1.25 -0.04 5.54 Thailand +0.00 +4.61 0.01 0.98 (Reporting by Jaskiran Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)