EMERGING MARKETS-Philippine peso weakens on dovish c.bank, baht off 13-month lows

    * Baht on track to recede over 1% for the week
    * Won strengthens to highest in over a week
    * Taiwan dollar on track for second straight weekly loss
    * Graphic: World FX rates tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
    * Asian stock markets: tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
    By Soumyajit Saha
    June 25 (Reuters) - The Philippine peso weakened on
Friday, a day after the country's central bank maintained a
dovish policy stance, while the Thai baht rose slightly from its
lowest level in over one year.
    The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas promised on Thursday to keep
policy accommodative, citing lingering downside risks to growth
from the continued "threat of COVID-19 infections".
    The peso gave up as much as 0.3% and was set to be
flat over the week, with ING economists expecting it to "remain
under pressure in the near term on concerns about the timing of
U.S. Fed tapering."
    Emerging market assets, generally considered riskier
investments, suffered broad losses last week after the U.S.
Federal Reserve indicated it may raise rates earlier than
expected and signalled tapering its bond buying programme.
    The Philippine government was forced to reimpose stricter
lockdown in parts of the country this month as infections rose,
and lowered its economic growth targets for this year and the
next in May.
    The Thai baht strengthened slightly after hitting
13-month lows this week after the central bank downgraded its
annual growth forecasts.
    But the baht was still on track to shed more than 1% for the
second consecutive week, while Thai stocks rose
marginally after six straight sessions of losses.
    "Despite bullish global sentiment ... we believe the double
whammy of COVID-19 and domestic political concerns would
continue to keep any rebound in check," Phillip Securities
(Thailand) said in a note to clients.
    Elsewhere in Asia, stocks rose in Indonesia and
Manila, tracking U.S. indexes which hit record highs
overnight after President Joe Biden embraced a bipartisan Senate
infrastructure deal.
    Taiwan stocks rose over 1% to their highest in more
than a month, while the Taiwan dollar also strengthened
to register its best session in two weeks. The dollar though was
on track for its second consecutive weekly loss.
    South Korea's won hit its highest level in over a
week, a day after the country's central bank said it expected
upward inflationary pressure, reinforcing views that the bank is
shifting to a less accommodative monetary policy.
    The won was set for a modest weekly gain after weakening
nearly 2% last week.
  Asia stock indexes and                                        
 currencies at 0334 GMT                                   
 COUNTRY      FX RIC           FX     FX    INDEX  STOCK  STOCKS
                          DAILY %  YTD %               S   YTD %
                                                   DAILY  
                                                       %  
 Japan                      +0.02  -6.86            0.75    6.01
 China                      +0.11  +0.97            0.49    3.20
 India                      +0.00  -1.48            0.00   12.94
 Indonesia                  +0.03  -2.70            0.70    1.25
 Malaysia                   +0.00  -3.32            0.14   -4.26
 Philippines                -0.11  -1.17            0.42   -3.15
 S.Korea                    +0.50  -3.81            0.54   14.98
 Singapore                  +0.03  -1.60            0.13    9.84
 Taiwan                     +0.35  +2.07            0.84   19.15
 Thailand                   +0.13  -5.79            0.51    9.97
 
 (Reporting by Soumyajit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Ana
Nicolaci da Costa)