EMERGING MARKETS-Philippines trails Asia rally as virus fears mount

* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Graphic: Foreign flows into Asian stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3f2vwbA
* Philippine shares fall the most in the region
* Rupiah on edge as markets weigh potential rate cut this
week

By Shriya Ramakrishnan
July 13 (Reuters) - Philippine shares extended last week's
sharp losses on Monday, trailing gains for emerging and
developed markets across Asia as the country reported its
biggest single-day increase in coronavirus casualties.
The Philippines and Indonesia both reported big spikes in
coronavirus infections over the weekend, with Manila Health
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire confirming 162 deaths and
more than 2,100 new confirmed infections on Monday. Jakarta's stock market eked out some gains, as China shares
again pulled regional markets broadly higher, but Manila was
down as much as 0.6%, its third day of losses in five sessions.
"The market sees a downward bias as it awaits the
government's decision on the community quarantine measures in
the capital for the second half of July," said Jennifer Lomboy,
a fixed income fund manager at First Metro Asset Management.
South Korean shares .KS11 and the won outperformed
KRW=KFTC as investors clung on to hopes for a
better-than-expected U.S. earnings season and more upbeat
economic data from China this week.
Beijing is due to release a raft of data this week including
trade, retail sales and industrial output figures for June along
with second-quarter growth readings.
"China's Q2 GDP is poised for a return to positive growth,
which is in stark contrast to the global economy that is
expected to suffer the worst of the downturn in Q2," Mizuho Bank
analysts said in a note.
On currency markets, the peso PHP= found some support from
weakness in the dollar, holding firm at 49.4 while the
Indonesian rupiah IDR= stuck to a tight range ahead of a
central bank meeting later in the week.
Bank Indonesia cut its benchmark rate for the third time
this year last month and officials there have since unveiled a
$40 billion financing scheme, including billions in central bank
bond-buying, to help prop up businesses and infrastructure.
"Another 25 basis point cut is still expected before the
year end, but Bank Indonesia does have some room to manoeuvre on
when to implement it," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at
IG Asia.
Goldman Sachs analysts said they expected Bank of Korea to
keep its policy rate on hold at its meeting this week after
cutting by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of
0.50% in May.
The won was up around a third of a percent in early trade.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Top gainers on the Thailand's SETI .SETI include
Multi-National Residence Fund MNRFu.BK up 12.33% at 3.28 baht,
Delta Electronics Thailand PCL DELTA.BK up ​ 11.15% at 77.25
baht

** In the Philippines, top index losers are Metro Pacific
Investments Corp MPI.PS down 3.38% at 3.43 peso; First Gen
Corp FGEN.PS down 3.01% at 24.2 peso

** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are up 5 basis
points at 1.32%

Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0355 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
RIC DAILY % % DAILY % YTD %
Japan .N225 1.84 -4.04
>
China .SSEC 1.27 12.33
CFXS>
India .NSEI 0.78 -10.82
IN>
Indonesi .JKSE 0.44 -19.78
a >
Malaysia .KLSE 0.60 0.79
>
Philippi .PSI -0.60 -21.17
nes >
S.Korea .KS11 1.45 -0.74
KFTC>
Singapor .STI -0.16 -17.83
e >
Taiwan .TWII 0.89 1.53
TP>
Thailand .SETI 0.78 -13.85
TH>