EMERGING MARKETS-Asian equities, FX subdued as infections in India continue to surge

* India, Thailand, South Korea see surging infections
* Singapore March inflation quickens, ahead of Reuters poll
* Don't expect shift in MAS stance due to CPI data -
strategist

By Harish Sridharan
April 23 (Reuters) - Asian equities and currencies were
subdued on Friday, as surging coronavirus infections in India,
Thailand and South Korea sapped appetite for investments in
these markets.
The overnight lead from Wall Street was also negative, as
major indexes fell on reports that U.S President Joe Biden
planned to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund major investments.
Indian stocks .NSEI gave up slim gains that came from
firmer public bank stocks and traded flat, as investor sentiment
remained shaky after the country recorded the world's highest
daily tally of coronavirus cases for a second day in a row.
South Korea's benchmark stock index .KS11 closed higher,
but notched its first weekly loss in five, as worries over
surging virus cases in the country weighed on sentiment.
Data showed Singapore's key price gauge rose by the fastest
pace in more than a year in March, with core inflation rate
rising to 0.5% against a forecast of an increase of 0.4% found
by Reuters poll of economists.
"Our view is underlying price pressures remain fairly well
contained. We don't see it resulting in any sort of shift to a
more hawkish stance from the Monetary Authority of Singapore any
time soon," said Mitul Kotecha, Chief EM Asia & Europe
strategist at TD Securities.
"But I do think inflation will trend little bit higher in
the months ahead anyway," he added.
Equities .STI were down 0.2%, while the Singapore dollar
SGD= strengthened 0.1%.
Stocks in Bangkok .SETI were marginally lower, as Thailand
reported its highest number of daily cases since the pandemic
began. Data showing an unexpected 8.47% jump in the country's
exports for March, marking its fastest pace in 28 months, did
little to lift the mood as the economic outlook remained
uncertain. Malaysian government data showed that the country's consumer
price index in March rose 1.7% from a year earlier, surpassing
the 1.4% annual growth forecast by a Reuters poll. The country's
equities and currency were flat. Top loser on Thailand's SETI .SETI was RPCG PCL
RPC.BK , down 8.51%
** In the Philippines, top index loser was Bloomberry
Resorts Corp BLOOM.PS , down 5.63%
** The biggest laggards in the NSE index .NSEI were Cipla
Ltd CIPL.NS and Shree Cement Ltd SHCM.NS

Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0704 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCKS STOCK
DAILY YTD % X DAILY S YTD
% % %
Japan JPY= +0.06 -4.31 <.N2 -0.57 5.74
25>
China S> EC>
India INR=IN +0.08 -2.44 <.NS -0.06 2.98
EI>
Indones IDR= -0.10 -3.37 <.JK 0.17 0.43
ia SE>
Malaysi MYR= +0.11 -2.09 <.KL 0.05 -1.15
a SE>
Philipp PHP= -0.04 -0.76 <.PS -0.58 -10.6
ines I> 7
S.Korea C> 11>
Singapo SGD= +0.09 -0.53 <.ST -0.16 11.92
re I>
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.18 +1.40 <.TW 1.19 17.43
II>
Thailan THB=TH -0.03 -4.40 <.SE -0.73 7.41
d TI>