* Baht down about 0.4%
* S.Korean won slips 0.6%
* Philippine c.bank to keep rates unchanged - Reuters Poll
* China retail sales, industrial output data awaited

By John Biju
       Nov 14 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies retreated while
equities were largely mixed on Tuesday ahead of U.S. inflation
data due later in the day, which is expected to provide insights
into the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory ahead.
    The Thai baht slipped 0.4% while the South Korean
won fell 0.6%. The Malaysian ringgit slid 0.2%
while the Japanese yen was hovering near a one-year low
against the greenback.
    Equities in the region were largely mixed, with shares in
Malaysia and South Korea jumping 0.6% and 1.3%,
respectively. Equities in Singapore slipped 0.4%
    Market participants are keenly eyeing U.S. inflation for
October for any clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy
stance going forward, given recent Fed officials' comments
signalling uncertainty on whether the battle to contain
inflation was over.
    "Headline CPI is likely to have decelerated further in YoY
terms due to base effect and softer energy prices," said Frances
Cheung, rates strategist at OCBC. 
    "Impact on Asia depends on market interpretation of the
inflation data and whether it would shift market pricing of the
Fed funds rate."
    The U.S. dollar edged higher to 105.660 against a basket of
currencies as of 0438 GMT. The Japanese yen was last
trading at 151.66 per dollar, a day after it touched 151.92 -
the lowest since October 21 last year.
    Investors will also be focusing on China's retail sales and
industrial output data due on Wednesday to assess the recovery
in Southeast Asia's largest trading partner.
    China's yuan ticked lower to 7.2934 per dollar,
pressured by market expectations of a further widening of the
yield differential in favour of the U.S. as investors bet on
more monetary easing in the world's second-largest economy.
    In the Philippines, the focus is the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas' (BSP) monetary policy decision on Thursday, with the
central bank indicating it was willing to take further action to
contain consumer price expectations. 
    The BSP is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged
at 6.50% on Thursday after an off-cycle 25 basis-point hike on
Oct. 26, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
    Markets in India were closed for a public holiday.
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 4.4
basis points to 6.946%
    ** Indonesia c.bank sees stronger inflation in 2024 as food,
energy prices rise
    ** Thailand records 23.2 million tourist arrivals so far in
2023
    
 Asia                                                         
 stock                                                        
 indexes                                                      
 and                                                          
 currenc                                                      
 ies at                                                       
 0448                                                         
 GMT                                                          
 COUNTRY  FX        FX        FX          INDEX    STOCKS     STOCKS
            RIC       DAILY     YTD %                DAILY %    YTD %
                    %                                         
 Japan              +0.02     -13.56               0.58       25.60
 China                                                      
 India              -         -0.74                -          7.39
 Indones            +0.00     -0.83                0.26       0.08
 ia                                                           
 Malaysi            -0.23     -6.72                0.55       -2.83
 a                                                            
 Philipp            -0.04     -0.71                -0.17      -7.01
 ines                                                         
 S.Korea            -0.58     -4.96                1.28       8.86
 Singapo            -0.17     -1.56                -0.36      -4.80
 re                                                           
 Taiwan             +0.00     -5.02                0.46       19.65
 Thailan            -0.44     -4.20                0.04       -16.84
 d                                                            
 
    
 (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru)