* KOSPI posts worst week since March

* Thai baht set for seventh decline in eight sessions

* Malaysian ringgit, South Korean won strengthen 0.4% each

(Updates for afternoon trade)

By Rajasik Mukherjee

June 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slipped on Friday to their lowest point in

two weeks, as Apple's ( AAPL ) price hikes soured tech sentiment, triggering a selloff in

South Korea and Taiwan and raising fresh doubts about the durability of the

AI-driven rally.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Asia gauge fell nearly 4%, hitting

its lowest point since June 12. For the week, the index has lost more than 5% so

far, on track for its worst since the first week of the Middle East conflict.

South Korea's KOSPI closed nearly 6% lower on Friday, and logged a

7.1% weekly loss, its biggest weekly fall since early March.

Apple ( AAPL ) raised iPad and MacBook prices on Thursday, citing surging memory and

storage chip costs from the AI-driven datacenter boom, a move that unsettled

tech-heavy markets in South Korea and Taiwan, which rely on stable component

prices.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) sudden price hike has become a reality check for AI trades," said

Glenn ​Yin, director of research at brokerage ACCM.

"Investors are beginning to ask who is ultimately bearing the cost, rather

than just celebrating growing semiconductor demand, and if a significant part of

that cost is being passed onto consumers, then demand elasticity could become

the next constraint on AI-related earnings growth."

Taiwan shares fell as much as 3.9% to their lowest level since June

15, putting the market on track for its worst weekly performance since early

March.

Across Southeast Asia, Singapore stocks fell 0.6%, while those in the

Philippines traded 0.4% lower.

Stocks in Jakarta shed nearly 3%, tracking their sixth decline in

eight sessions.

The index has lost 5.5% so far this week, set to snap a two-week gaining

streak.

Regional currencies also weakened on Friday, pressured by expectations that

the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated and by a broadly stable

U.S. dollar.

The dollar inched lower but remained on track for its first back-to-back

weekly gain since the start of the Middle East conflict on February 28.

The Thai baht dipped as much as 0.5%, hitting its lowest level

since May, and was on track for a seventh decline in eight sessions.

Diverging monetary policy paths have kept the baht under pressure, as the

Bank of Thailand's steady stance differs from the expectations of higher U.S.

rates, widening yield differentials in favour of the dollar.

"The widening interest rate differential is a key catalyst, and the Baht's

continuous decline in recent days also happen to echo the timing of FOMC's

release of rate projections," Yin added.

"FX markets are highly sensitive to relative returns, and as long as

investors can earn higher risk-adjusted yields in U.S. dollar assets while the

BoT remains on hold, capital is likely to continue favouring the dollar over the

baht."

The Indonesian rupiah traded 0.2% lower, still hovering around the

key 18,000 mark against the dollar.

Bucking the broader weakness, the Malaysian ringgit and the South

Korean won gained 0.4% each.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesia to inject more liquidity into state banks, finmin says

** China's central bank urges banks to boost lending as demand remains weak,

sources say

** UN halts escort of ships through Hormuz after vessel comes under attack

Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0713 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS

% DAILY YTD %

%

Japan +0.08 -3.09 -4.15 37.79

China India - -4.79 - -7.94

Indonesia -0.06 -7.00 -2.46 -32.33

Malaysia +0.56 -0.88 0.00 -0.97

Philippin -0.02 -4.04 0.02 0.32

es

S.Korea Singapore +0.01 -0.75 -0.53 11.73

Taiwan -0.25 -1.49 -3.64 53.89

Thailand -0.15 -5.75 -0.85 22.68