*

Most Asian currencies largely unchanged

*

Taiwan stocks hit record high for 7th day

*

Rupiah gains on resuming trading after two days of holiday

*

Bank Indonesia to keep rates unchanged - Reuters poll

(Updates at 0642 GMT)

By Rajasik Mukherjee

June 19 (Reuters) - Equities in Taiwan and South Korea

advanced on Wednesday as some of the world's top chipmaking

firms surged on bullish prospects for AI technology, while

Indonesian shares snapped a losing streak ahead of a key rate

decision in the country due tomorrow.

Among currencies, the Indonesian rupiah appreciated

0.2% as it resumed trading after two days of holiday. The

Singapore dollar, the South Korean won, and

the Taiwan dollar were largely unchanged.

In Taiwan, the benchmark index hit a record high for

the seventh straight session, boosted by chipmakers such as

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing co ( TSM ) after major

client Nvidia ( NVDA ) soared to a new peak.

South Korean shares gained 1.2% to touch a

more-than-two-year high, with chipmaker Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF )

gaining 2% and battery maker LG Energy Solution

rising 3.63%.

The country's foreign exchange authorities had, according to

sources, intended to intervene if the dollar-won pair breached

the 1,385 level in late May, sources familiar with the matter

said.

A fast weakening of the won has been causing headaches for

policymakers in Asia's fourth-largest economy as the currency

lost 6.5% against the dollar so far this year.

Indonesian equities, which also resumed trade after

public holidays, advanced as much as 0.8% ahead of Bank

Indonesia's monetary policy meeting, with a Reuters poll

predicting the central bank standing pat on interest rates.

However, with the rupiah depreciating and uncertainty

regarding the country's ongoing political transition and fiscal

outlook, some analysts are not ruling out a rate hike by the

central bank.

"The rate hike is necessary to deliver BI's promise on using

monetary policy to contain volatility on IDR (Indonesian

rupiah)," said Fakhrul Fulvian, economist at Trimegah

Securities.

Indonesia's statistics bureau showed that the trade surplus

widened more than expected to $2.93 billion in May.

Analysts at Barclays said in a client note that trade

surplus data "should provide little reason for BI to hike

rates", adding that the central bank will look through the

recent depreciation of the IDR and leave its policy rate

unchanged.

Among other currencies, the Thai baht slipped 0.2%,

while the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit

were also largely unchanged.

Globally, softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data

reignited hopes of an imminent Federal Reserve rate cut, pushing

the dollar lower. It recovered slightly early on

Wednesday.

"Rate path forward and the timing of the first cut remain

uncertain and officials seem more comfortable to wait a while

more before making the first move," analysts at Maybank wrote in

a client note.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields down 2.1 basis points

to 7.119%

** Philippines says Beijing's words not matching actions in

South China Sea

** Japan's Nikkei rises on Nvidia ( NVDA ) bump; profit-taking caps

gains

Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0642 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDE STOCK STOCK

DAILY YTD % X S S YTD

% DAILY %

%

Japan +0.06 -10.5 China EC>

India -0.01 -0.25 Indones +0.21 -5.90 Malaysi +0.13 -2.46 Philipp -0.19 -5.71 S.Korea 11>

Singapo +0.03 -2.32 Taiwan +0.07 -5.06 Thailan -0.16 -6.93 (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane

Venkatraman

)