*

MSCI Asia equities index rises 0.3%

*

BSP to stand pat on rates - Reuters poll

*

Peso flat, stocks inch higher ahead of BSP call

By Rishav Chatterjee

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Taiwan stocks scaled another fresh

record on Thursday, spearheading gains across Asia as markets

regained momentum on renewed optimism around AI-driven

headlines, while Philippine equities edged up ahead of a

closely-contested rate decision.

The MSCI index of emerging Asian equities,

which had slipped more than 1% in the previous session, rose

0.3%, while the broader MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index

also nudged higher.

Overnight, Wall Street notched fresh peaks as a renewed

rally in AI-linked tech stocks overshadowed concerns over a

prolonged U.S. government shutdown and the absence of major

economic data.

In Taipei, the benchmark climbed as much as 1.5%,

marking its fourth record in five sessions amid a feverish

AI-driven run.

Shares in Indonesia and Malaysia advanced

0.6% and 0.2%, respectively, while Thailand's benchmark

jumped 0.7%. Singapore's index, however, eased slightly.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is set to meet on

October 14, with analysts at OCBC predicting it to be a close

call between flattening the slope and staying on hold.

Elsewhere, Manila's benchmark traded without a clear

direction as investors awaited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas'

rate call.

Fourteen of 23 economists polled by Reuters expect the

central bank to keep its policy rate steady at 5%, as the

country battles elevated inflation and political unrest over an

infrastructure-corruption probe. The peso was flat.

Weak growth in Philippines, worsened by the infrastructure

corruption scandal, argues for further easing, but the same

scandal has rattled the peso, making rate cuts risky for

currency stability, said Vishnu Varathan, managing director,

head of macro research, Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Securities.

In effect, the scandal has deepened both growth and FX

pressures, sharpening the policy trade-off, he added.

In currency markets, the Thai baht weakened to its

lowest since late August, last trading at 32.48 per U.S. dollar,

after the Bank of Thailand surprised markets on Wednesday by

holding rates unchanged but signalling readiness to ease if

growth falters further.

Analysts still expect two rate cuts by year-end.

Other currencies in emerging Asia eked out modest gains

against a steady U.S. dollar on Thursday. The Singapore dollar

and its Taiwanese counterpart gained 0.1% and

0.2%, respectively, while the Indonesian rupiah

added 0.2%.

The Malaysian ringgit traded flat.

Asian ex-Japan currencies are likely to continue

range-bound, two-way trading in the absence of major data

catalysts, with moves guided by overall equity market sentiment,

said Christopher Wong, currency strategist with OCBC.

Attention remains on the duration of the U.S. government

shutdown, as a prolonged impasse could start to weigh on

economic activity, Wong said.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Thailand to start buying bad household debt this month

** Thailand to support technology investments, finance

minister says

Asia stock indexes

and currencies at

0421 GMT

COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS

% DAILY YTD %

%

Japan +0.10 +3.05 1.43 23.18

China India +0.04 -3.55 0.14 6.08

Indonesi +0.21 -2.60 0.55 15.97

a

Malaysia +0.05 +6.08 0.18 -0.73

Philippi +0.00 +0.25 -0.11 -6.69

nes

S.Korea Singapor +0.14 +5.53 -0.19 17.43

e

Taiwan +0.10 +7.46 0.94 18.59

Thailand -0.23 +5.36 0.69 -6.16

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank

Dhaniwala)