EM ASIA FX-Rupiah leads Asia FX gains ahead of Yellen testimony; baht shines

* Rupiah hits around 4-month high on capital inflows

* Baht near 4-month peak on gold exporters

* Thai 10-year bond yield lowest in at least 15 years

(Adds text, updates prices)

By Jongwoo Cheon

SINGAPORE, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's rupiah led gains

among emerging Asian currencies on Wednesday, on expectations

that Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen may signal a slower pace

of U.S. interest rate increases due to a faltering global

economy and financial market turmoil.

The rupiah jumped more than 1 percent to around a

four-month high buoyed by capital inflows.

Thailand's baht rose to a near four-month peak on

demand from gold exporters. Foreigners also bought Thai debt,

pushing down the government's 10-year bond yield to

its lowest in at least 15 years.

The U.S. dollar stayed around a 3-1/2-month trough

against a basket of six major currencies ahead of Yellen's

congressional testimony later in the day. The dollar's retreat

follows worries over slowing global growth after recent falls in

oil and growing concerns about the health of European banks.

Still, some analysts doubted if emerging Asian currencies

could appreciate further, given mounting risk aversion.

Yellen is also likely to defend the U.S. central bank's

first rate hike in a decade and insist that more increases this

year remain on track, albeit at a slower pace, when she

addresses Congress.

"I don't expect Asian FX strength to continue. We are

lacking growth globally and that will be negative for Asia,"

said Sean Yokota, head of Asia strategy for Scandinavian bank

SEB in Singapore.

"Yellen will not adjust her comments and turn dovish. We

will have a quarter of weak growth that will delay the rate

hikes and expectations. However, SEB thinks it's strong enough

that the Fed will hike in September and December - two hikes for

2016," Yokota said, when asked if the U.S. economy is strong

enough to weather higher borrowing costs.

RUPIAH

The rupiah rose 1.5 percent to 13,400 per dollar, its

strongest since Oct. 15, on demand from foreign banks.

The official Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate,

which the central bank introduced in 2013 to manage exchange

rate fluctuations, was fixed at 13,538, stronger than the

previous 13,689.

Indonesia's finance ministry sold 5.25 trillion rupiah

($391.8 million) of Islamic bonds at an auction, above the

indicative target of 4 trillion rupiah, the government said on

Tuesday.

Foreign investors were net buyers of Jakarta stocks

in the previous three consecutive sessions, purchasing a

combined net 3.0 trillion rupiah during the period, Thomson

Reuters data showed.

On Friday, they absorbed 2.7 trillion rupiah in equities,

the largest daily purchase since April 2015, after data showed

Southeast Asia's top economy picked up speed in the fourth

quarter.

The rupiah is seen facing chart resistance between

13,400-13,425. A close firmer than that range is expected to

lead the currency to 13,220, its high in October 2015, analysts

said.

BAHT

The baht gained 0.4 percent to 35.34 per dollar, its

strongest since Oct. 19, as gold exporters sold the dollar after

unloading the precious metal following recent gains.

Gold was holding near a 7-1/2-month high as investors sought

safe-haven assets in the wake of a global stock market tumble

and worries about world economic growth.

Gold is popular among Thai investors, and rises in the

precious metal's price often prompt some to reduce holdings in

the physical metal or in gold futures.

The Thai currency also found support from bond inflows. The

10-year bond yield fell to 2.100 percent, the lowest since

January 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data going back till

then.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0525 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 114.44 115.16 +0.63

Sing dlr 1.3938 1.3974 +0.26

*Taiwan dlr 33.520 33.520 +0.00

*Korean won 1197.40 1197.40 +0.00

Baht 35.35 35.48 +0.36

Peso 47.54 47.65 +0.23

Rupiah 13400.00 13602.00 +1.51

Rupee 67.94 67.90 -0.06

Ringgit 4.1570 4.1570 +0.00

*Yuan 6.5755 6.5755 +0.00

Change so far in 2016

Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move

Japan yen 114.44 120.30 +5.12

Sing dlr 1.3938 1.4177 +1.71

Taiwan dlr 33.520 33.066 -1.35

Korean won 1197.40 1172.50 -2.08

Baht 35.35 36.00 +1.83

Peso 47.54 47.06 -1.01

Rupiah 13400.00 13785.00 +2.87

Rupee 67.94 66.15 -2.63

Ringgit 4.1570 4.2935 +3.28

Yuan 6.5755 6.4936 -1.25

* Financial markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan are

closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

(Additional reporting by Satawasin Staporncharnchai in BANGKOK

and Reuters FX Analyst Krishna Kumar in SYDNEY; Editing by

Jacqueline Wong)