EMERGING MARKETS-South Korea, Taiwan stocks decline; Philippines c.bank in focus

* Most Asian currencies largely unchanged * Philippine c.bank to hold rates - Reuters poll * S. Korea to extend dollar-won onshore trading hours By Roshan Thomas June 27 (Reuters) - South Korean shares lost more than 1% on Thursday to mark their worst day in more than two weeks after U.S. chipmaker Micron's forecast for the current quarter disappointed investors, while the market was waiting for a rate decision in the Philippines. Currencies in the region were largely subdued, with the Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit slightly lower, as the dollar lingered near a two-month high ahead of key inflation data due later in the week. A strong print would push back interest rate cut expectations, supporting the dollar and pressuring emerging market assets. Stocks in Taiwan, which soared last week in tandem with their U.S. peers riding on the Nvidia wave, fell as much as 1%, with chipmaking giant TSMC down more than 1%. Equities in Seoul dropped 1.1% for the worst intraday fall since June 10, as investors assessed the outlook for semiconductor demand from artificial intelligence technologies after Micron's outlook update raised concerns. SK Hynix, a Micron rival and Nvidia supplier, fell near 1.1%. South Korea also said it would extend dollar-won onshore market's trading hours from Monday to enhance foreign investor access and support the inclusion of government bonds in a major global index. In the Philippines, investors await a monetary policy decision from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged, according to a Reuters poll. "We expect BSP to stand pat at this meeting, given building inflation pressures and ongoing PHP weakness. A decidedly dovish BSP could lead to PHP falling as low as 60 against the US dollar", analysts at MUFG said in a client note. The peso was trading flat at 58.90 per dollar - near a more than two-year low - while shares ticked higher. The peso has lost nearly 6% so far in the first half of 2024, making it one of the worst performing currencies in the region. Elsewhere, Chinese stocks lost 0.7% and those in Thailand lost 0.5%. In contrast, equities in Indonesia and Singapore were up 0.6% and 0.3% respectively. As the first half of 2024 draws to a close, most Southeast Asian currencies are deep in the negative territory, with the Thai baht and the Indonesian rupiah emerging as the worst performers. "Investors are constantly on the lookout for better returns on their investments," said Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at the Union Bank of Philippines. "With the U.S. Fed projecting to potentially cut lesser-than-expected for this year, one would expect investment value slanting toward USD-denominated investments." HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields tick higher to 7.139% ** Japan finance minister says concerned over weak yen impact on economy ** China's industrial profits growth slows sharply in May amid patchy recovery ** Sri Lanka inks debt deal with creditor nations, including China Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0430 GMT COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS RIC DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD % Japan +0.26 -12.04 -1.04 17.32 China -0.03 -2.35 -0.51 -0.59 India +0.08 -0.36 -0.02 9.81 Indonesia -0.15 -6.27 0.77 -4.32 Malaysia -0.15 -2.69 -0.37 8.97 Philippines +0.03 -5.93 0.08 -2.05 S.Korea -0.01 -7.26 -0.44 4.69 Singapore +0.12 -2.76 0.27 3.10 Taiwan -0.02 -5.61 -0.34 27.75 Thailand +0.01 -7.45 -0.50 -7.30 (Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)