* India's Nifty 50 index heads for best week since April
* Indonesia's Q4 GDP shrinks more than expected
* Thailand, Philippines and S. Korea gain ~1% each
By Shruti Sonal
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Indian bond yields rose and the rupee
strengthened on Friday, after the central bank kept interest
rates unchanged at record low levels and said it would maintain
support for the economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said
the Indian economy is poised to move upwards and that inflation
was expected to remain within its targeted range over the next
few quarters. "We're looking at a very sharp bounce back in growth", said
Sameer Narang, chief economist at Bank of Baroda.
"The central bank's monetary and fiscal policy are going
hand in hand, and that's an important takeaway".
The Indian rupee INR=IN strengthened to 72.94 against the
dollar, while the 10-year bond yield IN057730G=CC rose to
6.18%, its highest since August.
The upward trend in the bond yields is likely to continue
due to the RBI's strategy of keeping an elevated borrowing
program to support economic growth next year, Narang added.
Indian shares .NSEI , which have gained nearly 10% during
the week in a budget-fuelled rally, retreated from their record
highs but were set to post their best week since April.
In Indonesia, shares .JKSE erased some early gains after
data showed the economy shrank slightly more than expected in
the fourth quarter, leading to its first full-year contraction
in over two decades.
The Jakarta benchmark .JKSE , which had added as much as
0.7% in early trade, pared some gains to trade up 0.3% by 0638
GMT.
"Worryingly, the outlook for 2021 remains uncertain as the
country continues to battle an intensifying COVID-19 outbreak",
Mizuho Bank analysts said in a note.
"Beyond Q1, improvement in growth will be uneven, possibly
interrupted, depending on the vaccine-pandemic evolution
determining outbreak severity."
Thailand .SETI , Philippine .PSI and South Korean .KS11
benchmarks gained 1%, in line with gains in the broader markets,
as progress in vaccine distribution led to hopes for further
normalisation in the global economic recovery.
In the Philippines, annual inflation accelerated faster than
expected to hit the highest level in two years in January,
limiting the central bank's room for further interest rate cuts
at its meeting next week. Most currencies in the region weakened as the dollar headed
for its best weekly gain in three months, supported by growing
confidence that the U.S. economic recovery will outpace global
peers.
The Indonesian rupiah IDR= , Malaysian ringgit MYR= ,
Singapore dollar SGD= and the Thai baht THB=TH fell between
0.1% and 0.4%.
Highlights:
** Thai Bev to sell 20% of beer business in blockbuster
Singapore IPO ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are down 3.50 basis
points at 6.165%
** Top gainers on the Thailand's SETI .SETI include TWZ
Corporation PCL TWZ.BK , Pan Asia Footwear PCL PAF.BK , R&B
Food Supply PCL RBF.BK
Asia stock indexes and
currencies at 0712 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS
DAILY % DAILY YTD %
% %
Japan JPY= +0.04 -2.14 <.N22 1.54 4.86
5>
China