EMERGING MARKETS-Malaysian stocks, ringgit hit as political deadlock drags on

(.) * No clarity on next Malaysia PM * Most Asian FX edges higher * Philippine stocks hit 2-month high By Himanshi Akhand Nov 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks weakened for the second straight day on Tuesday, while the ringgit see-sawed as a political deadlock in the country extended after the incumbent ruling coalition decided not to support any alliance to form a government. Most other emerging Asian currencies bounced back from Monday's losses as the U.S. dollar retreated after an overnight rally, even as China's COVID-19 cases rose further. The ringgit swung between marginally positive and negative territory as state news agency Bernama reported Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah would pick the next prime minister, without specifying a time for the decision. Saturday's general election resulted in an unprecedented hung parliament and the lack of clarity since then has raised the risk of delaying policy decisions and complicating potential fiscal repair. "The lower move for the USD/MYR has been rather sharp and the political uncertainties at home spurred a mild bullish retracement yesterday," analysts at Maybank said in a note. They said medium-term fiscal policy should be watched, given the lack of details on how respective parties planned to finance their populist policies. The uncertainty also hit equities in Kuala Lumpur, which fell 0.8%, as significant election gains by an Islamist party added to investors' fears over policies on gambling and alcohol consumption. Other regional currencies edged higher. The Singapore dollar and Thai baht were up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. "Sentiment is still somewhat negative given the fact that Chinese COVID cases are elevated right now, so markets are paring risks in Asian currencies," said Wei Liang Chang, FX and credit strategist at DBS Bank. Investors were also eyeing minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's November meeting, due on Wednesday, for fresh insights into the central bank's thoughts about monetary policy. Regional stock indexes were mixed. Equities in the Philippines rose as much as 0.9% to their highest since Sept. 20. Thai stocks were little changed after two sessions of gains. HIGHLIGHTS ** Malaysia's 10-year benchmark yield is down 0.3 basis points at 4.398% ** Top losers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index include Top Glove Corporation Bhd and Maxis Bhd ** Singapore's Q3 GDP and October CPI data due on Wednesday Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0634 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.15 -18.9 <.N2 0.61 -2.35 1 25> China 7 EC> India +0.05 -9.13 <.NS 0.29 4.95 EI> Indonesi -0.02 -9.31 <.JK 0.13 7.46 a SE> Malaysia -0.09 -9.06 <.KL -0.79 -8.36 SE> Philippi +0.10 -11.0 <.PS 0.31 -9.82 nes 7 I> S.Korea 7 11> Singapor +0.09 -2.28 <.ST 0.43 4.51 e I> Taiwan +0.14 -11.1 <.TW 0.64 -20.18 6 II> Thailand +0.32 -7.66 <.SE -0.03 -2.37 TI> (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)