EMERGING MARKETS-Taiwan, S.Korea stocks advance on chipmakers; Indonesia rate decision in focus

* Most Asian currencies largely unchanged * Taiwan stocks hit record high for 7th day * Rupiah gains on resuming trading after two days of holiday * Bank Indonesia to keep rates unchanged - Reuters poll (Updates at 0642 GMT) By Rajasik Mukherjee June 19 (Reuters) - Equities in Taiwan and South Korea advanced on Wednesday as some of the world's top chipmaking firms surged on bullish prospects for AI technology, while Indonesian shares snapped a losing streak ahead of a key rate decision in the country due tomorrow. Among currencies, the Indonesian rupiah appreciated 0.2% as it resumed trading after two days of holiday. The Singapore dollar, the South Korean won, and the Taiwan dollar were largely unchanged. In Taiwan, the benchmark index hit a record high for the seventh straight session, boosted by chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing co after major client Nvidia soared to a new peak. South Korean shares gained 1.2% to touch a more-than-two-year high, with chipmaker Samsung Electronics gaining 2% and battery maker LG Energy Solution rising 3.63%. The country's foreign exchange authorities had, according to sources, intended to intervene if the dollar-won pair breached the 1,385 level in late May, sources familiar with the matter said. A fast weakening of the won has been causing headaches for policymakers in Asia's fourth-largest economy as the currency lost 6.5% against the dollar so far this year. Indonesian equities, which also resumed trade after public holidays, advanced as much as 0.8% ahead of Bank Indonesia's monetary policy meeting, with a Reuters poll predicting the central bank standing pat on interest rates. However, with the rupiah depreciating and uncertainty regarding the country's ongoing political transition and fiscal outlook, some analysts are not ruling out a rate hike by the central bank. "The rate hike is necessary to deliver BI's promise on using monetary policy to contain volatility on IDR (Indonesian rupiah)," said Fakhrul Fulvian, economist at Trimegah Securities. Indonesia's statistics bureau showed that the trade surplus widened more than expected to $2.93 billion in May. Analysts at Barclays said in a client note that trade surplus data "should provide little reason for BI to hike rates", adding that the central bank will look through the recent depreciation of the IDR and leave its policy rate unchanged. Among other currencies, the Thai baht slipped 0.2%, while the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit were also largely unchanged. Globally, softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data reignited hopes of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut, pushing the dollar lower. It recovered slightly early on Wednesday. "Rate path forward and the timing of the first cut remain uncertain and officials seem more comfortable to wait a while more before making the first move," analysts at Maybank wrote in a client note. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields down 2.1 basis points to 7.119% ** Philippines says Beijing's words not matching actions in South China Sea ** Japan's Nikkei rises on Nvidia bump; profit-taking caps gains Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0642 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK DAILY YTD % X S S YTD % DAILY % % Japan +0.06 -10.5 <.N2 0.23 15.26 9 25> China EC> India -0.01 -0.25 <.NS -0.11 8.28 EI> Indones +0.21 -5.90 <.JK 0.29 -7.13 ia SE> Malaysi +0.13 -2.46 <.KL -0.23 10.15 a SE> Philipp -0.19 -5.71 <.PS 0.03 -1.28 ines I> S.Korea 11> Singapo +0.03 -2.32 <.ST 0.41 2.31 re I> Taiwan +0.07 -5.06 <.TW 1.99 29.44 II> Thailan -0.16 -6.93 <.SE -0.65 -8.96 d TI> (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )