Emerging FX-Peso rises on inflows, China data watched

SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) The Philippine peso rose on Monday due to stronger capital inflows, but the Indonesian rupiah made little headway, indicating the lingering caution after the sell-off in the high-yielding currencies last month.

Analysts generally remain bullish about the upside of most Asian currencies, however, given the region's solid economic fundamentals and signs of official tolerance for currency appreciation.

''Risk appetite prevailing will eventually translate into appreciation in the Asian high yielders,'' said Christy Tan, currency strategist at Bank of Amercia.

The peso hovered near 45.97 per dollar, up a quarter of a percent from Friday's close.

''The peso is stronger than last Friday's close because of the remittance inflows over the weekend,'' said a trader in Manila.

''I think the peso could go up to 45.90, the next support (for the dollar) we are looking at is 45.80,'' he said.

The rupiah was little changed at 9,025 per dollar.

The Malaysian ringgit rose as far as 3.44 per dollar, up almost a third of a percent from late Asian trade on Friday.

A dealer in Kuala Lumpur said he expected the ringgit to move in a range between 3.4390 to 3.4450 for the day.

The Chinese yuan fell to 7.6035 per dollar, down slightly from Friday's close. The yuan has been retreating after hitting a post-revaluation high of 7.5929 per dollar on July 3.

Investors are watching for the release of Chinese data from this week, including the trade surplus and money supply.

China's trade surplus is likely to swell to a a record high of .0 billion in June due to stronger exports, according to the median forecast of 14 economists polled by Reuters.

''The combined effect from rising liquidity and political tensions related to a ballooning trade surplus is expected to result in a renewed acceleration of yuan appreciation,'' JPMorgan analysts said in a research report.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0326 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 123.62 123.13 -0.40 Sing dlr 1.5191 1.5202 +0.07 Taiwan dlr 32.856 32.809 -0.14 Korean won 920.20 919.40 -0.09 Baht 33.89 34.02 +0.38 Peso 45.97 46.08 +0.25 Rupiah 9025.00 9030.00 +0.06 Rupee 40.44 40.44 +0.00 Ringgit 3.4400 3.4505 +0.31 Yuan 7.6035 7.6010 -0.03 Change so far in 2007 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 123.62 119.01 -3.73 Sing dlr 1.5191 1.5337 +0.96 Taiwan dlr 32.856 32.585 -0.82 Korean won 920.20 0929.50 +1.01 Baht 33.89 36.08 +6.46 Peso 45.97 49.03 +6.67 Rupiah 9025.00 8988.00 -0.41 Rupee 40.44 44.26 +9.43 Ringgit 3.4400 3.5270 +2.53 Yuan 7.6035 7.8051 +2.65 REUTERS SKB HS0923