Emerging Asia FX-Steady, China seen allowing yuan strength

SINGAPORE, Apr 10 (Reuters) Asian currencies were little changed on Monday, with the dollar's rise against the yen and euro after strong U.S. jobs data offset by speculation that China could let its currency rise at a faster pace this month.

The Singapore dollar , South Korean won and Philippine peso rose about a tenth of a percent in early trade while the Taiwan dollar was barely changed.

The Thai baht rose a fifth of a percent to a six-year high of 38.02 per dollar on expectations the Bank of Thailand would raise rates for the 12th straight time since August 2004 to a seven-year high of 4.75 percent.

Indonesian financial markets were closed for a holiday.

The Japanese yen dropped as much as half a percent from late Asian trading on Friday to 118.24 per dollar after data on Friday showed the U.S. economy added a higher-than-expected 211,000 jobs in March. That boosted expectations of one more rate rise by the Federal Reserve.

A sharp rise in the Chinese yuan on Monday suggested to analysts that the government intended to let the currency rise further ahead of President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States this month.

China's central bank set the mid-point of the yuan's exchange rate at 8.0040 per dollar, up 0.11 percent from Friday's mid-point and its highest level since the currency's revaluation last July, when China ended the yuan's dollar peg.

''Today's fix supports our view that China is keen to see a dollar/yuan print below 8.0 before Hu Jintao meets Bush on April 20,'' Shahab Jalinoos, a currency strategist at ABN AMRO Bank, said in a note.

The yuan's strength was likely to spill over into other Asian currencies, he said, particularly if the Bank of Thailand raised its benchmark rate again on Monday and the Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened policy further by allowing a stronger currency at a meeting on Tuesday.

Jalinoos said he thought Asian central banks would raise rates to higher levels than financial markets were expecting.

''Given that, and the equity inflows into the region, I don't think that presents an overwhelming argument for dollar/Asia moving a lot higher,'' he said. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0218 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 118.08 117.61 -0.40 Sing dlr 1.6040 1.6059 +0.12 Taiwan dlr 32.352 32.328 -0.07 Korean won 952.00 953.20 +0.13 Baht 38.05 38.13 +0.21 Peso 51.05 51.12 +0.14 Ringgit 3.6670 3.6670 +0.00 Yuan 8.0035 8.0118 +0.10 Change so far in 2006 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 118.08 117.96 -0.10 Sing dlr 1.6040 1.6625 +3.65 Taiwan dlr 32.352 32.850 +1.54 Korean won 952.00 1011.60 +6.26 Baht 38.05 41.11 +8.04 Peso 51.05 53.09 +4.00 Rupiah 8970.00 9835.00 +9.64 Rupee 44.67 45.04 +0.83 Ringgit 3.6670 3.7790 +3.05 Yuan 8.0035 8.0702 +0.83 Reuters PV DB1117