March 12 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian

markets.

With global markets gently easing back from recent highs ahead

of U.S. inflation data on Tuesday, Asian markets are unlikely to

swing too far in either direction, although the Indian rupee and

South Korean won could be exceptions to that rule.

Indian inflation and Bank of Korea meeting minutes top the

regional economic calendar on Tuesday, which also includes

Philippine trade and Malaysian industrial production figures,

and Australian business confidence.

Japan's top financial diplomat Masato Kanda is scheduled to

speak too and as one of the country's top voices on exchange

rates, anything he says on the yen will be listened to

attentively.

The yen has recovered from historically low levels recently,

back in line with what Kanda and others might consider

'fundamentals' - it rose 2% against the dollar last week, its

biggest rise since July.

This helped drive the Nikkei's 2.2% slide on Monday, its

biggest loss since October. Having reached a record high above

40,000 points last week, Japan's benchmark index was always

vulnerable to a correction.

That may have more to run as speculation intensifies that

the Bank of Japan is about to make a landmark shift away from

its ultra-loose policy. The BOJ said it made no purchases of

exchange-traded funds on Monday despite the slide in Japanese

stocks, stoking that speculation even further.

The broader correction in Asian equities on Monday was much

shallower, however, thanks to a solid rise in China, and Wall

Street's decline was mild too. That said, the Nasdaq was again

the biggest decliner of the three major U.S. indices, and after

sliding 5.5% on Friday market darling Nvidia fell another 2%.

Is risk appetite beginning to crumble? Perhaps, although

bitcoin smashing through $70,000 to a record high $72,910 on

Monday would suggest otherwise.

In China, authorities have asked banks to enhance financing

support for state-backed China Vanke and called on creditors to

consider private debt maturity extension, in a rare intervention

from central government to help an embattled property firm.

There's a long way to go but this news, exclusively reported

by Reuters, could help bolster confidence that the property

sector crisis has reached its nadir.

Elsewhere in Asia on Tuesday, Indian inflation figures are

expected to show annual inflation cooled in February to a

four-month low of 5.0%. Despite the easing, inflation has

remained above the 4% mid-point of the central bank's tolerance

band of 2%-6% since September 2019.

The rupee has been one of Asia's best-performing currencies

this year, but from a low base - it is still languishing near

its weakest ever levels against the dollar.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction

to markets on Tuesday:

- India consumer inflation (February)

- Bank of Korea minutes

- U.S. consumer inflation (February)

(By Jamie McGeever;)