Emerging FX-Asia bounces back after surprise Fed move

SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) Asian currencies rebounded on Monday in line with rising regional stock markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its discount rate in a surprise move on Friday.

The Korean won briefly hit 939.9 per dollar, up about 1 percent from late Asian trade on Friday, while the Singapore dollar jumped 0.7 percent to 1.5260 per U.S. dollar.

The high-yielding rupiah rose as far as 9,410 per dollar, up 0.6 percent. But the rupiah remains the worst performer in Asia this year with cumulative losses of 4.6 percent versus the dollar.

Philippine markets were closed for a public holiday.

''If all the markets in Asia give a positive tone, it will be such a relief for us here,'' said a Jakarta-based trader.

The rupiah's recovery will provide some relief for the central bank, which was thought to be ready to stop the rupiah falling below the 9,500 level, the trader said.

Last week, central banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were reported to have intervened to support their currencies as investors fled risk amid credit market turmoil.

MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan <.miapj0000pus> jumped 4 percent in early trade, following a sharp rebound in U.S. stocks on Friday after the Fed cut its discount rate.

Still, many analysts and traders remained cautious as jitters about the global credit squeeze persisted.

''Overall, the Fed's prompt action lowers the risk of a recession for the U.S. economy and bolsters confidence in our baseline forecast of a favourable macro-environment in emerging Asia,'' JPMorgan strategist Claudio Piron and Yan Ping Ho said in note.

''Having said that, the route to normalisation is unlikely to be immediate and markets are likely to remain very unsettled in the next several weeks,'' they said.

The Japanese yen, which has moved in the opposite direction to most emerging Asian currencies in recent sessions as investors unwound carry trades, steadied versus the dollar after pulling back from a 14-month high on Friday.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR REUTERS SW KP0914