EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks rise on China regulatory easing hopes, S.Korea leads gains

* Malaysian stocks set for fourth straight weekly drop * South Korean stocks post best session since Nov. 2 * Philippine Peso, Sing dlr, Thai baht gain 0.1% each By Arundhati Dutta Nov 12 (Reuters) - South Korea shares led gains in Asia on Friday, as the technology sector tracked a rally in U.S. semiconductor stocks and investors nurtured hopes that China was scaling back regulatory clampdowns. Seoul equities climbed 1.5% in their best session since Nov. 2, but ended the week flat. Taiwan's tech-heavy stock bourse advanced as much as 0.9%, while Indian shares added 0.9% Didi Global will relaunch its apps in China by the end of 2021 in anticipation that Beijing's probe into the firm will be wrapped up by then, Reuters reported. There were also signs that the government could ease some tight curbs in the property sector, which had initially boosted Shanghai equities by 0.3%. "Some easing in regulatory concerns are helping to boost Chinese stocks, which in turn is helping to underpin regional markets," said Mitul Kotecha, chief EM Asia & Europe strategist at TD Securities. Additionally, a 1.9% rise overnight in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index after a heavy sell-off in the previous session boosted tech stocks in South Korea and Taiwan, according to Kelvin Wong, an analyst at CMC markets. In Malaysia, the benchmark stock index gained 0.7%, even as data showed the economy shrunk more than expected in the third quarter. However, the index was set for a fourth straight week of losses. "The economy seems to have turned a corner of-late with improvement in the virus situation and vaccination coverage... there has been substantial re-opening and a recovery is falling in place," ANZ Research said in a note. On the downside, Singapore shares edged lower, with transport firm Comfortdelgro being the top loser for a second day in a row after it halted plans for an initial public offering of its Australian unit. Singapore Airlines also weighed on the benchmark with a drop of 1.8% after it posted a loss in the second quarter. The region's currency market was subdued as the dollar scaled a 16-month peak. The Philippine peso, the South Korean won and that Thai baht gained 0.1% each. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 3 basis points at 6.201%​​ ** Malaysia's 10-year benchmark yield is up 0.6 basis point at 3.569%​​ ** Chipmakers Silergy Corp & Alchip Technologies lift Taiwan benchmark Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0810 GMT COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS RIC DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD % Japan -0.02 -9.49 1.13 7.89 China -0.04 +2.13 0.18 1.90 India +0.08 -1.86 0.89 28.97 Indonesia +0.19 -1.36 -0.60 11.24 Malaysia +0.07 -3.44 0.85 -5.87 Philippines +0.32 -3.73 0.70 3.41 S.Korea +0.10 -7.92 1.50 3.32 Singapore +0.01 -2.44 -0.26 13.56 Taiwan +0.01 +2.32 0.38 18.91 Thailand +0.21 -8.66 0.20 12.86 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)