EMERGING MARKETS-Asian shares rebound, Philippines lags as second wave of virus worsens

* Philippines c.bank sees 2021 economic growth of 6-7%

* Taiwan Stocks hit record high

* Regional shares track global markets higher

By Harish Sridharan

April 22 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks .PSI slipped on Thursday amid worries the economy may not rebound as strongly as expected from its pandemic-driven slump, trailing other emerging Asian share markets which bounced after steep losses in the last session.

The U.S. dollar held near multi-week lows, helping regional currencies firm across the board. The South Korean won KRW=KFTC and the Malaysian Ringgit MYR= led gains as they strengthened 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

Philippines' central bank governor said on Wednesday that a two-week lockdown of the capital Manila earlier this month will likely slow full-year economic growth to 6%-7%, compared with its earlier forecast of 6.5%-7.5%. of the fastest growing economies before the pandemic, the Philippines is currently facing one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia, and its recovery from a record economic contraction last year is in danger of being derailed. in Manila .PSI weakened 0.8%, while the peso PHP= underperformed its peers to trade roughly flat.

"The main domestic risk factor is still the pandemic drag," Maybank analysts said in a note.

Despite a surging sedcond wave of infections, Maybank analysts still expected the peso to hold its ground for now.

Separately, the government said it had priced a 2.1 billion euro ($2.5 billion) bond offering to help fund budget spending. across Southeast Asia took their lead from a rise in global stocks, even as worries of rising COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world remained. GLOB/MKTS

Stocks in Taiwan jumped as much as 1.3% to a record high, while those in Malaysia .KLSE and Singapore .STI also bagged gains.

Investors also look ahead to the European Central Bank meeting and U.S. jobs data later today.

In Thailand, benchmark bond yields TH10YT=RR eased 4 basis points to 1.68%.

Duncan Tan, a strategist at DBS Bank, said he was surprised by the extent of the recent selloff in Thai bonds, adding that there was likely some uncertainty around demand for "destination bonds" given Thailand's tourism-reliant economy.

He also pointed to the Bank of Thailand's (BoT) management of bills and bond flows to support larger-than-usual government financing needs since last year. the current environment, where we are seeing supply strains show up at bond auctions across various Asian markets, BoT's active management can be a differentiator for Thai bonds' outlook," Tan said.

HIGHLIGHTS

** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are down 4 basis points at 1.68%

** Top gainers on the Singapore STI .STI was Comfortdelgro Corporation Ltd CMDG.SI , up 2.29%

** Chih Lien IND 2024.TW was among the top gainers on the benchmark .TWII

Asia stock indexes and

currencies at 0430 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC

FX

FX INDE STOCKS STOCK

DAILY YTD %

X DAILY S YTD

%

%

% Japan

JPY=

+0.08 -4.37 <.N2

2.03 5.99

25>

China

S>

EC>

India

INR=IN

+0.00 -2.42 <.NS -0.34 1.90

EI>

Indones IDR=

+0.00 -3.34 <.JK -0.16 0.08 ia

SE>

Malaysi MYR=

+0.27 -2.14 <.KL

0.51 -1.38 a

SE>

Philipp PHP=

-0.05 -0.81 <.PS -0.79 -10.5 ines

I>

2 S.Korea

0.33 10.74

C>

11>

Singapo SGD=

+0.10 -0.50 <.ST

0.80 11.83 re

I>

Taiwan

TWD=TP

+0.15 +1.33 <.TW

0.13 16.91

II>

Thailan THB=TH

+0.16 -4.28 <.SE -0.08 8.93 d

TI>

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)