News

    * India shares down 3%, rupee lowest since August
    * South Korean won, Thai baht weaken 0.5% each
    * Shares in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia slip
    * Indonesian rupiah at its lowest since November

    By Sameer Manekar
    April 12 (Reuters) - Asian currencies weakened and equities
declined on Monday, with South Korean won, Indian rupee and Thai
baht falling the most, as expectations of more robust economic
data from the United States is expected to push U.S. yields
higher.
    South Korea's won weakened 0.5% and Indian rupee
 hit its lowest level since Aug. 4. Equities in
Singapore and Malaysia lost more than half a
percent, while Indian shares plunged as much as 3% amid
surge in coronavirus cases.
    Investors await U.S. consumer inflation data for March on
Tuesday, where a likely jump on the back of massive stimulus
spending is expected to push U.S. Treasury yields higher.

    Bouts of positive data signalling a rapid economic recovery
in the United States, which some analysts have said will outpace
other developed markets, have supported the U.S. dollar this
year and dented the appeal of its emerging market counterparts.
    "Emerging markets currencies will be caught in the
cross-fire between inflation and yield-seeking behaviour in a
higher debt world paradoxically inundated with cheap capital,"
Masayuki Tsunashima, an analyst at Mizuho Bank said in a note.
    In Singapore, stocks declined for the fifth straight session
ahead of the central bank's monetary policy decision on
Wednesday.
    The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is seen keeping
its exchange-rate based policy settings unchanged, a Reuters
poll showed. MAS lets the local dollar rise or fall against the
currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed
band.
    Singapore's trade-reliant economy is expected to contract
only slightly in the first quarter as activity continues to
recover from a pandemic-induced shock, a separate Reuters poll
showed.
    Singapore is also facing some political uncertainty after
the city-state's deputy prime minister unexpectedly stepped
aside as the designated successor to current premier Lee Hsien
Loong.
    Indonesia's rupiah, which backs some of the
highest-yielding debt in emerging markets, fell to its lowest
level since Nov. 3, with 10-year benchmark yields
jumping nearly a percent.
    Retail sales in Indonesia fell 18.1% in February from the
same month a year earlier, a central bank survey showed.

    The benchmark stock index in Jakarta slid as much as 0.9%,
while shares in Kuala Lumpur fell 0.5%. Shares in Thailand
 lost as much as 1.5% as a surge in coronavirus cases
weighed on sentiment.
    Through the week, first-quarter economic performance of
China, Asia's growth powerhouse, as well as corporate earnings
in the United States will also be in focus.
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 6.2 basis points
to 6.515%
    ** South Korean battery makers climb after dispute
settlement over EV battery technology
    ** Financials and consumer firms top losers in the Jakarta
index
    
    
      Asia stock indexes and                      
      currencies at 0438 GMT                    
 COUNTRY   FX RIC     FX     FX    INDE  STOCK  STOCK
                    DAILY   YTD %   X      S    S YTD
                      %                  DAILY    %
                                           %    
  Japan             +0.09   -5.76  <.n2>          
  China                       EC>          
  India             -0.24   -2.47  <.ns ei>          
 Indones            -0.27   -3.84  <.jk ia se>          
 Malaysi            -0.05   -2.78  <.kl a se>          
 Philipp            -0.06   -1.15  <.ps ines i>          
 S.Korea                      11>          
 Singapo            -0.08   -1.60  <.st re i>          
 Taiwan             -0.07   +0.10  <.tw ii>          
 Thailan            -0.44   -5.07  <.se d ti>          
 
 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)