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Czech inflation stays at central bank's 2% target in March

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Bank of Thailand stands pat on rates

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Several Asian markets closed for public holiday

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EM stocks up 0.6%, FX adds 0.1%

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar

April 10 (Reuters) - Most emerging market stocks and

currencies rose on Wednesday ahead of a key U.S. inflation

report, while ratings agency Fitch cut its outlook on China,

which weighed on domestic shares along with weakness in real

estate stocks.

The MSCI index for emerging market stocks rose

0.6%, while currencies inched up 0.1% by 0842

GMT, with all eyes on U.S. consumer price data due later in the

day for cues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path.

Trading volumes were thin with markets in Singapore, Kuala

Lumpur, Manila and Jakarta closed for the Eid al-Fitr public

holiday, while South Korean markets were closed due to

legislative elections to elect a 300-member parliament.

China's Shanghai Composite index and blue-chip CSI

300 index closed 0.7% and 0.8% lower, respectively,

bucking the trend as shares of property developers weighed.

Also hurting sentiment, Fitch revised its outlook on China

to negative, citing risks to public finances as the economy

faces increasing uncertainty in its shift to new growth models.

The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.9%, with Hong Kong

shares of Alibaba ( BABA ) rising 4.9% after co-founder Jack Ma

penned a lengthy memo to employees that expressed support for

the internet giant's restructuring efforts.

Among currencies, the Czech crown rose 0.3%

against the euro after data showed inflation stuck at the

central bank's target of 2% in March for a second straight month

after easing sharply earlier this year.

The Thai baht was little changed against the dollar

after the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged, as

expected, defying government pressure to lower borrowing costs

to help revive economy.

"The fact that members remained on the sidelines today

probably reflects partly an anxiety about further rocking the

baht, which is Asia's second-worst performing currency so far in

2024, after the Japanese yen," said Miguel Chanco, chief

emerging Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"We've been expecting the BoT (Bank of Thailand) to keep

rates higher than necessary for a bit longer, just to

demonstrate its independence as an institution amid the

government's explicit pleas for cuts as soon as possible."

South Africa's rand shed 0.5% against the dollar,

while Russia's rouble weakened to a more than two

week low against the greenback.

Asia's most valuable publicly listed company TSMC

slipped 0.5% even as the chipmaker reported a 16.5% rise in

first-quarter revenue, beating market expectations.

Taipei stocks inched 0.2% lower, retreating from

their record highs last session.

Poland's energy stocks dropped nearly 5% after the

government decided to drop plans to separate coal-fired power

plants into a special company.

Vietnam sold 7.03 trillion dong ($281 million) of government

bonds in an auction at the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the bourse

said, slightly down from $284 million raised last week.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Thailand sees flagship $13.8 billion handout scheme

spurring 5% growth next year

** Philippines president says summit with U.S., Japan to

include South China Sea cooperation

** Polish government drops coal merger idea