EMERGING MARKETS-China's upbeat exports counter SMIC blow for stocks

* China August exports up 9.5% y/y; imports down 2.1%
* Ayala Land jumps over 5%, supports Philippine shares
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

Sept 7 (Reuters) - Shanghai shares pared losses on Monday
while Philippine stocks climbed over 1% in thin holiday trade,
as upbeat Chinese exports and U.S.-China trade tensions vied for
market attention.
Shares in China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International
Corp 0981.HK (SMIC) tumbled as much 15% after Reuters reported
the Pentagon was considering whether to add China's largest
chipmaker to a blacklist. That and concerns over the pace of a global recovery from
the economic damage caused by the coronavirus crisis pushed
broad indicators of Asia-Pacific shares lower.
The Philippines .PSI , this year's worst performer in the
region, bucked the trend to gain 1.7%. South Korea .KS11 ,
helped by a dip in coronavirus cases, was also up around 0.6%.
Chinese exports rose for a third month, climbing 9.5% in
August from a year earlier, topping expectations, while imports
saw a sharper fall, signalling that domestic demand is still
sluggish even as a rise in shipments points to a more sustained
recovery for the world's second-largest economy. Shanghai's composite index .SSEC pared losses after the
trade data but remained 0.2% lower on the day.
"Despite the slight imports data miss, the broad takeaway
here remains one of continued Chinese recovery," said Jingyi
Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore.
Philippine stocks hit their highest in a week, with some
support from property developer Ayala Land ALI.PS adding to
Friday's recovery from double-digit falls in August.
A steady dollar =USD left most of the region's emerging
currencies steady to slightly higher, with Taiwan's dollar
TWD=TP again performing best, up 0.7%, while South Korea's won
KRW=KFTC and China's yuan each.
In Seoul, a $6.64 billion order from Verizon VZ.N
supported shares in Samsung Electronics 005930.KS .
Investors dumped tech stocks toward the end of last week as
frothy valuations came into question and as U.S. jobs growth
slowed, all highlighting the challenging road to recovery from
the coronavirus pandemic's devastating economic fallout. .N
** Ayala Land climbed 5.7%, outperforming the rest of the
market
** Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 2%
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0409 GMT
COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
RIC DAILY% YTD % DAILY % YTD %
Japan JPY= -0.04 +2.20 .N225 -0.19 -2.09
China CNY=CFXS +0.20 +1.96 .SSEC -0.16 9.83
India INR=IN +0.00 -2.40 .NSEI 0.20 -6.67
Indonesia IDR= +0.03 -5.80 .JKSE -0.15 -16.95
Malaysia MYR= +0.02 -1.37 .KLSE 0.02 -4.57
Philippines PHP= -0.12 +4.18 .PSI 1.65 -24.75
S.Korea KRW=KFTC +0.23 -2.57 .KS11 0.63 8.44
Singapore SGD= -0.05 -1.51 .STI 0.16 -22.01
Taiwan TWD=TP +0.72 +2.66 .TWII 0.23 5.59
Thailand THB=TH +0.00 -4.81 .SETI -0.30 -16.96