* Indonesian president nominates Destry Damayanti for BI

governor role

* Rupiah strengthens to as much as 17,730 a dollar

* Jakarta stocks reverse course

* KOSPI, Taiwan stocks close up 0.7% and 1.6% respectively

(Updates for afternoon trade)

By Nichiket Sunil and Kumar Tanishk

Aug 10 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah extended gains to a

more than seven-week high and stocks reversed course on Monday

after President Prabowo Subianto nominated Destry Damayanti as

the sole candidate to be the next central bank governor.

Destry, Bank Indonesia's second-most senior official, has

been serving as interim governor since July 27, after the sudden

departure of Perry Warjiyo reignited anxiety over Indonesia's

fiscal policy and central bank independence.

"Deputy Governor Destry assumed office (as the acting chief)

armed with extensive experience across macroeconomics, banking,

capital markets, and financial-sector policy, besides being a

key contributor to Bank Indonesia's existing policy framework,"

said DBS Bank economist Radhika Rao.

"For investors, reassurance that the central bank remains

under an experienced, and independent leader will be important

in sustaining confidence in the monetary policy framework and

reaffirm its institutional autonomy."

The rupiah, which rose to an intraday high of 17,730

per dollar, has advanced about 1.3% over the last four sessions

after data showed that Indonesia's growth beat expectations,

albeit at its weakest pace in three quarters. The currency had

ended at 17,885 on Friday.

Stocks in Jakarta edged 0.2% higher after losing as

much as 0.6% earlier in the session.

Wider Asian markets also edged higher, led by regional

technology-heavy benchmarks after soft U.S. jobs data eased

expectations for a rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Under Chair Kevin Warsh, the Federal Reserve has provided

little forward guidance on monetary policy, leading markets to

focus more on economic data and commentary from policymakers.

Investors are watching for the U.S. July consumer price report

due on Wednesday.

MSCI's gauge of EM Asia stocks rose about

0.9%, while the EM Asia IT index added 1%. Both

indexes are heavily influenced by chipmaker-heavy South Korea's

KOSPI and Taiwan's benchmark, which closed up

0.7% and 1.6%, respectively.

Taiwan's equity benchmark ended at its highest closing level

since July 16 after two sessions of losses. The KOSPI ended up

0.7%, with market jitters dialled down a notch.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Thailand stocks crept

up 1%, while those in Malaysia and Philippines

posted marginal losses.

Singapore stocks were closed for trading for a market

holiday.

The Philippine peso added 0.2% to 60.731 per dollar,

while the Malaysian ringgit gained to 4.0860 per dollar.

The Thai baht strengthened to 32.9875.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Shein finds there's no place like China after Vietnam

warehouse experiment disappoints

** Storms from Dolphin soak China's east, disrupt life in

Shanghai

** Indonesia consumer confidence falls in July for third

successive month

Asia stock indexes and

currencies at 0736 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCK STOCK

DAILY % % S S YTD

DAILY %

%

Japan -0.45 -1.16 China >

India >

Indonesia +0.70 -6.14 5

Malaysia +0.05 -0.73 Philippines +0.13 -3.20 -0.02 3.90

S.Korea >

Singapore -0.09 +0.50 -- 22.65

Taiwan >

Thailand >

(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil and Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru;

Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Mrigank Dhaniwala)