* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Philippines, S, Korea, Indonesia shares drop 1%
* Indonesia rupiah eases ahead of c.bank meet on Thursday
* China markets closed for holiday
By Anushka Trivedi
Feb 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian shares fell on Wednesday as
COVID-19 curbs were extended in some parts of the country, while
Taiwan markets defied the broader gloom with the local dollar
and stocks rising on the resumption of trade after the Lunar New
Year holiday.
Malaysia's stock index .KLSE dropped 0.6%, its worst day
in more than a week, as restrictions https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-extends-mco-selangor-kl-johor-penang-feb-19-mar-4-14206236
in three states and the Kuala Lumpur territory were extended to
March 4, despite a vaccination drive announced on Tuesday.
Analysts at CGS-CIMB Securities forecast "hiccups" in
implementing the vaccine programme that aims to cover at least
80% of its 32 million people within a year, hurting stocks that
should potentially benefit from the economic recovery.
"Among the concerns are that the number of vaccine doses may
not be sufficient to meet the tight deadline," they said.
Most Asian markets were hobbled by a firm dollar .DXY ,
which benefited from benchmark ten-year U.S. Treasury yields
US10YT=RR rising to their highest in a year on expectations of
a stimulus-led economic recovery and lift-off in inflation.
Recent stock market gains in the Philippines .PSI , South
Korea .KS11 and Indonesia .JKSE fell more than 1% while
their respective currencies PHP= , KRW=KFTC , IDR= eased.
"Investors are probably trying to strike a balance between
reflation hopes and seemingly overstretched valuations, allowing
recent rallies to take a brief pause," Margaret Yang, a
strategist at DailyFX said.
The rupiah IDR= declined 0.6% on added pressure from
investors' unwinding their positions ahead of Bank Indonesia's
(BI) meeting on Thursday where an interest rate cut is widely
expected. A multi-day rally in South Korea's stocks and won also lost
steam as COVID-19 cases there hit a 39-day high. KRW/
Taiwan's dollar TWD=TP , however, climbed 1.5%, while
stocks surged 3.8% after a week-long holiday.
China's financial markets were closed for a holiday, but the
offshore yuan CNH=D3 declined 0.2% after U.S. President Joe
Biden vowed repercussions for Beijing over human rights abuses,
threatening a flare up in tensions between the two nations.
** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up almost 5.6
basis points at 6.34%
** Top losers on Thailand's SETI .SETI include Muramoto
Electron Thailand PCL METCO.BK down 7.9% and Group Lease PCL
GL.BK down 7.5%
** Top losers on FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kl Index .KLSE
include Axiata Group Bhd AXIA.KL and PETRONAS Chemicals Group
Bhd PCGB.KL , down about 3% each
Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0443 GMT
COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD
%
Japan JPY= +0.14 -2.50 .N225 -0.55 10.40
India INR=IN -0.27 +0.25 .NSEI -0.50 8.97
Indonesia IDR= -0.29 +0.57 .JKSE -1.09 4.10
Malaysia MYR= -0.12 -0.32 .KLSE -0.50 -1.79
Philippines PHP= -0.09 -0.73 .PSI -1.76 -3.07
S.Korea KRW=KFTC -0.71 -1.97 .KS11 -1.08 8.90
Singapore SGD= -0.05 -0.53 .STI -0.46 2.74
Taiwan TWD=TP +1.47 +1.80 .TWII 3.59 11.11
Thailand THB=TH -0.33 -0.03 .SETI 0.16 5.26