EMERGING MARKETS-Most Asian currencies flat, Singapore shares snap 5-day losing run

* Singapore, S. Korea shares gain

* China March exports and imports rise

* Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia equities down

By Sameer Manekar

April 13 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies were muted and equities mixed on Tuesday as investors awaited inflation data from the United States before making further bets, while Singapore stocks gained after five days of losses before a central bank meeting on Wednesday.

Singapore shares .STI advanced as much as 0.4%, while South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 jumped 1.2% to a two-month high helped by tech heavyweights and buying by foreigners. .KS

South Korea's central bank is expected to hold interest rates at all time lows at its policy review on Thursday, while Singapore's central bank is seen keeping its exchange-rate based policy settings unchanged on Wednesday, according to separate Reuters polls. the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is not expected to tweak its policy settings, a shift towards a better outlook could portend an October move," analysts at Singapore bank DBS said.

"We think that the correction lower in SGD rates may be largely done and the market will be more sensitive to movements in USD rates as speculation of Fed taper intensifies in the coming months."

The Singapore dollar SGD= traded 0.1% lower by 0336 GMT.

U.S. consumer inflation data for March due later on Tuesday may spur some moves, as a likely acceleration could push U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar higher and reduce the appeal of emerging market assets. coronavirus cases across Asia are also reviving growth concerns as potential lock downs threaten to derail economic recovery and test the limits of central banks' accommodative policies. Philippines, which is battling one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, saw its bourse .PSI slide as much as 1.2%. The index fell for the third straight session, despite some virus-led curbs being eased on Monday. India, where fresh cases have soared to record highs this week, the rupee INR= continued to hover near an eight-month low.

Meanwhile, trade data from Asian powerhouse China showed robust growth in exports and imports in March, signalling an improvement in global demand as worldwide COVID-19 vaccination progresses. markets were closed for a public holiday.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark yields flat at 6.543%

** U.S. benchmark 10-year benchmark yields up 1.11 basis points to 1.6871%

** India's retail inflation jumps to a four-month high in March stock indexes and

currencies at 0402 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC

FX

FX INDE STOCK STOCK

DAILY YTD

X

S S YTD

%

%

DAILY

%

%

Japan

JPY=

-0.30 -5.8 <.N2 +1.11 8.74

9 25>

China

S>

2 EC>

India

INR=IN

0.00 -2.6 <.NS 0.48 2.85

6 EI>

Indones IDR=

-0.07 -3.8 <.JK -0.71 -1.22 ia

4 SE>

Malaysi MYR=

-0.02 -2.7 <.KL -0.35 -1.51 a

1 SE>

Philipp PHP=

-0.01 -1.1 <.PS -1.17 -9.76 ines

0 I>

S.Korea

C>

5 11>

Singapo SGD=

-0.12 -1.6 <.ST 0.26 11.90 re

0 I>

Taiwan

TWD=TP

+0.03 +0.1 <.TW 0.74 15.29

2 II>

Thailan THB=TH

0.00 -4.8 <.SE 0.00 6.33 d

6 TI>