EMERGING MARKETS-Most Asian FX edges higher ahead of Fed rate decision

* Most emerging Asia FX, stocks inch higher for a second day * China c.bank says yuan will remain stable * All focus on Fed policy decision, due on Wednesday By Tejaswi Marthi Nov 2 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies rose on Wednesday as the greenback fell for a second straight day, with the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision looming large and investors looking for any signs of a slowdown in future rate hikes. The Singapore dollar and the Thai bhat advanced 0.3% each, while the Indian ruppe was up 0.1%. However, the Malaysian riggit and the Philippine peso fell 0.1% each. The world's largest central bank is expected to deliver an interest rate hike of 75 basis points (bps) later on Wednesday, but Fed funds futures are split on the odds of a 75- or 50-bps increase for the December meeting. "Markets want signs of a pivot and that augurs for some euphoria if it is received, but misery if not. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has a tough job later on," ING analysts said in a note. However, a survey showed U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in September, suggesting that demand for labour remains strong. That lifted market bets that interest rates will top 5% next year. Some stocks in the region made cautious gains, despite overnight losses on Wall Street, ahead of the Fed meeting. Equities in the Philippines climbed 0.6% and and Taiwan benchmark climbed 0.3%. However, Singapore stocks , fell 0.2%. The Indonesian benchmark inched lower as well. "With the muted moves in the U.S. equity futures this morning, sentiment in the Asia session could largely hold on to some wait-and-see as well, but eyes will remain on Chinese equities after its stellar performance on Tuesday," said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG. Beaten-down China stocks jumped on Tuesday after an unverified note circulating on social media stated that the world's second largest economy was planning a reopening from strict COVID curbs in March 2023. The market saw further modest gains on Wednesday. Meanwhile, China's central bank governor, Yi Gang, said that the yuan will remain stable against a basket of currencies, as the yuan held near 15-year lows to the dollar. Yi also expressed hopes for a soft landing in the country's crisis-hit property market. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields fell 3.5 basis points to 7.505% ** Thailand's central bank expects the country's economy to grow 3.3% this year, its deputy central bank governor said ** Oil prices rose after data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles, suggesting demand is holding up despite steep interest rate hikes dampening global growth. Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0331 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.65 -21.8 0.03% -3.84% 8 China 6 India +0.07 -10.0 0.00 4.56 5 Indonesi -0.13 -8.92 -0.33 6.80 a Malaysia -0.06 -12.1 0.04 -5.92 1 Philippi -0.12 -12.4 0.62 -13.27 nes 0 S.Korea 5 Singapor +0.26 -4.42 -0.26 -0.04 e Taiwan +0.04 -13.9 0.27 -28.29 6 Thailand +0.27 -11.2 0.04 -1.89 0 (Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)