* Indonesian rupiah dips to 4-year low
* Indian rupee drops to record low at open
* Asian equities weaken further

By Roushni Nair
       April 16 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah tumbled to a
four-year low on Tuesday after a weeklong holiday as persistent
strength in the greenback after a hawkish repricing of rate cut
expectations by the U.S. Federal Reserve continued to pressure
Asian currencies.
    The rupiah depreciated by 2.27% to 16,200.00 per U.S.
dollar, its lowest level since early April 2020, prompting the
country's central bank to intervene in the domestic forex
market. Equities in Jakarta dipped as much as 3%,
marking their biggest percentage loss since early July 2022.  
    Indonesian markets reopened after the Eid al-Fitr festival,
which marks the end of Ramadan. 
    The country's most recent inflation data showed the annual
inflation rate accelerated more than expected in March to 3.05%,
the quickest since August 2023, taking the shine off the rupiah
as it indicates weaker purchasing power. 
    The currency has already lost nearly 5% in value this year
and is among the worst performers in the region after political
turmoil during the presidential elections raised questions about
the country's fiscal outlook. 
    "While BI (Bank Indonesia) has waded into the market, the
move is prudently aimed at jawboning USD-IDR lower and smoothing
volatility instead of capping FX weakness," Nicholas Chia, Asia
macro strategist at Standard Chartered told Reuters.
    The U.S. dollar hit a five-month high against major peer
currencies after a hotter-than-expected U.S. retail sales data
for March, with the dollar index touching 106.37, the
highest since Nov. 2. 
    The dollar, which gained nearly 2% last week, has renewed
its strength after data last week showed U.S. consumer prices
increased more than expected in March, forcing most Southeast
Asian currencies to trade on the back foot.     
    The Fed's shift to hawkish rhetoric in March meeting minutes
led investors to price in a rate cut in September rather than in
June.
    In Southeast Asia, the Indian rupee dropped to a
record low at the open and largely traded flat by 0406 GMT. The
Malaysian ringgit and the Philippine peso
followed suit to give up over 0.2% each. 
    Equities across the region were in a sea of red, with stocks
in Singapore and Manila falling over 1% each,
while those in Seoul and Taipei slid over 2%,
each.
    In Vietnam, the dong depreciated as much as 0.38% to
25,275 per dollar, hitting its lowest level on record for a
second session in a row amid political uncertainty and
leadership changes that shook the Southeast Asian nation. 
    In China, Southeast Asia's largest trading partner, data
showed economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter
offering some relief to officials as they try to shore up growth
in the face of protracted weakness in the property sector and
mounting local government debt.
    The Chinese yuan was largely unchanged while
shares in Shanghai lost nearly 1.5%.
    "China's GDP may not provide much lasting relief for Asian
currencies as other March activity prints did not provide
indication of strong momentum in demand recovery," Fiona Lim,
senior FX strategist at Maybank, said in an email. 

    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 19.2 basis
points to 6.835%
    ** Markets in Thailand closed for a public holiday
    ** China's new home prices decline at fastest pace since
2015 
    
  Asia stock indexes and                                
 currencies at 0409 GMT                            
 COUNTRY  FX RIC        FX     FX    INDEX  STOCK  STOCK
                     DAILY  YTD %               S  S YTD
                         %                  DAILY      %
                                                %  
 Japan               -0.03  -8.59           -2.12  15.35
 China                                           
 India               -0.06  -0.35           -0.41   2.07
 Indones             -2.10  -4.85           -1.87  -1.68
 ia                                                
 Malaysi             -0.29  -4.20           -0.51   5.50
 a                                                 
 Philipp             -0.23  -2.74           -1.57   0.15
 ines                                              
 S.Korea                                         
 Singapo             -0.31  -3.48           -1.29  -3.02
 re                                                
 Taiwan              -0.47  -5.52           -2.51  11.18
 Thailan                 -  -6.28               -  -1.38
 d                                                 
 

    
 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Additional reporting
by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore. Editing by Gerry Doyle)