EMERGING MARKETS-Thai baht, Philippine peso lead Asia FX gains on inflation data

* Thailand higher inflation is not that worrying - official * Philippine c.bank sees policy adjustments in second half * Philippine Peso hits highest since Feb. 24 By Tejaswi Marthi April 5 (Reuters) - Thai baht and Philippine peso strengthened on Tuesday, as a spike in inflation numbers in the countries pushed investors towards safe-haven assets amid hopes of monetary policy easing, although the local central banks reiterated their dovish stance. The baht and the peso rose 0.4% each, with the latter hitting a near six-week high, while most Asian currencies were largely trading flat against the dollar. Thailand's headline consumer price index (CPI) jumped to 5.73% in March, its fastest pace in 13 years, and beat expectations on stronger prices of goods and energy, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday. "Such high inflation reading will not cause any inflationary pressure on the Bank of Thailand (BoT)," said Poon Panichpibool, Markets Strategist at Krung Thai Bank. "The BoT will remain supportive and keep policy rate at 0.50% unless there is a need to curb severe fund outflows which is not likely as market seem to have priced-in the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hike." The Philippines also reported red-hot inflation numbers for March, with CPI rising 4% and beating a Reuters poll of 3.7%, to hit a six-month high. The central bank said it was prepared to take a pre-emptive action if inflation expectations were at a risk of spiralling out of control. Analysts at Barclays raised their 2022 inflation forecast to 4.1% from 3.7%, still lower than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) forecast of 4.3%, and added that they expect the BSP to make its first rate hike in the second half of fiscal 2022. "Despite our forecast of higher inflation, we expect the BSP to stay on hold through fist half of fiscal 2022, as downside risks to global growth and the still-nascent domestic recovery are likely to offset supply-side price pressures," Barclays said in a note. Stocks in the Philippines gave up 0.7% and underperformed their emerging Asian peers. Singapore stocks advanced 0.5%, while the benchmark indexes in Malaysia and South Korea fell slightly. Oil prices climbed as uncertainty over supply loomed after the West planned of imposing new sanctions against Russia following the alleged war crimes by its troops in Ukraine, while Iran nuclear talks stalled. The World Bank also cut its growth forecast for East Asia, especially Thailand, to reflect the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It now expects Thailand's economy to grow 2.9% this year, down from a prediction of 3.9% in December. "While it is normal for agencies to cut GDP growth for Thailand given the current geopolitical climate, we still hope for stronger recovery in 2023 with GDP growth possibly reaching 5.1%," Panichpibool added. Yields on U.S Treasury notes were little changed, but the 2-year/10-year curve still remained inverted, hinting at a possible recession on the horizon. Yields on Singapore's 10-year bond were little changed, falling to 2.326%, while Indonesia's benchmark bond yields fell to 6.747%. HIGHLIGHTS: ** South Korea's March inflation accelerates to 4.1%, most since Dec 2011 ** World Bank expects 2022 growth of 5.0% in the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0624 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % X DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.16 -6.12 <.N2 0.19 -3.58 25> India +0.22 -1.39 <.NS -0.26 3.76 EI> Indonesi +0.03 -0.68 <.JK 0.10 8.23 a SE> Malaysia +0.09 -1.12 <.KL -0.16 1.84 SE> Philippi +0.37 -0.31 <.PS -0.62 -0.06 nes I> S.Korea 11> Singapor +0.06 -0.49 <.ST 0.41 9.84 e I> Thailand +0.33 +0.00 <.SE 0.20 2.93 TI> (Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)