EM ASIA FX-Won flat after BOK rate hold, importers hit peso

* S.Korea bond yields up; foreigners sell more bond futures * Sing dlr eases after c.bank lower inflation f'cast, weak GDP * Singapore c.bank keeps tightening bias as expected * Philippine peso down on importers' dollar demand (Adds text, updates prices) By Jongwoo Cheon SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - The South Korean won barely changed on Friday after the Bank of Korea shocked markets on Thursday by keeping its policy interest rate on hold while tensions with North Korea simmered without boiling over. The Philippine peso fell on importers' dollar demand. The Singapore dollar edged lower after the central bank lowered inflation forecasts and an economic contraction in the first quarter, although it maintained a tight policy stance. The won earlier lost as much as 0.4 percent to 1,133.3 per dollar on demand for the greenback from importers and dollar bids linked to local companies' dividend payments to foreign shareholders. Foreign investors sold a net 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion)in treasury bond futures, a day after reporting their largest daily net selling of 2.4 trillion won since October 2009, according to the Korea Exchange data. But currency traders have not spotted dollar demand linked to foreigners' bond futures selling. Instead, local exporters bought the won for settlements and some offshore funds joined the bids, helping the South Korean currency recover all of its earlier losses to end local trade at the previous close price of 1,129.1. "The won may appreciate, probably up to 1,115, if North Korea does not launch a missile," said a foreign bank trader in Seoul. "The market tried to push the won further many times, but it failed. So we may see more short squeezes," he added. The worst-performing emerging Asian currency of the year has been under pressure from the increasing geopolitical tension between Seoul and Pyongyang and as a weaker Japanese yen is seen hurting South Korea's export competitiveness. Investors stayed wary as a U.S. government agency has said North Korea has a nuclear weapon it can mount on a missile. The won has lost 5.2 percent against the dollar so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters data. SINGAPORE DOLLAR The Singapore dollar slid as much as 0.2 percent to 1.2393 against the U.S. dollar. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) lowered its inflation forecast for 2013 to 3 percent to 4 percent from the previous range of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent and cut its outlook for core inflation to 1.5 to 2.5 percent, citing the weaker-than-expected price increases over the past few months. The city-state's economy contracted a seasonally adjusted and annualised 1.4 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, data showed, missing market forecast of 0.7 percent growth. But the MAS held monetary policy steady as expected and said it will maintain the Singapore dollar's "modest and gradual" appreciation path. "If economic growth continues to be weak, MAS will still have leeway within the existing SGD policy settings to allow SGD NEER (nominal effective exchange rate) to move down within the band," said Frances Cheung, senior strategist at Credit Agricole CIB. "It can try to engineer a less strong SGD or even weaker SGD within the band." PHILIPPINE PESO The Philippine peso fell on dollar demand from local importers, traders said. The peso may came under further pressure next week with such corporate dollar bids seen intensified, traders added. "I expect a range of 41.00-41.50 with better (dollar/peso's) upside bias. Mid-month corporate dollar demand is likely to support the pair further," said a senior Philippine bank trader in Manila. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0720 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 99.34 99.72 +0.38 Sing dlr 1.2382 1.2372 -0.08 Taiwan dlr 29.929 29.980 +0.17 Korean won 1129.24 1129.10 -0.01 Baht 28.98 29.03 +0.17 Peso 41.28 41.12 -0.39 Rupiah 9709.00 9702.00 -0.07 Rupee 54.51 54.52 +0.01 Ringgit 3.0350 3.0345 -0.02 Yuan 6.1914 6.1963 +0.08 Change so far in 2013 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 99.34 86.79 -12.63 Sing dlr 1.2382 1.2219 -1.32 Taiwan dlr 29.929 29.136 -2.65 Korean won 1129.24 1070.60 -5.19 Baht 28.98 30.61 +5.62 Peso 41.28 41.05 -0.56 Rupiah 9709.00 9630.00 -0.81 Rupee 54.51 54.99 +0.88 Ringgit 3.0350 3.0580 +0.76 Yuan 6.1914 6.2303 +0.63 ($1 = 1129.05 won) (Additional reporting by Taemin Chang in SEOUL and IFR Markets' Catherine Tan; Editing by Eric Meijer)