* Philippines stocks hit highest since Aug. 4
* Indonesia stocks hit highest since September 2022
* Inflation data from Thailand and Philippines due Friday

By Ayushman Ojha
       Jan 4 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies were softer on
Thursday as investors reassessed their expectations of steep and
early rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, after minutes
of the central bank's last meeting failed to provide proper
clues on the  timing.
    The South Korean won dipped nearly 0.4%, poised
for its third consecutive session of losses. It has fallen
around 1.7% so far this week, compared to a 4.6% gain in the
last two months of 2023.
    The Indonesian rupiah and the Malaysian ringgit
 lost 0.2%, each. Both currencies have declined nearly 1%
in the first week of 2024 after logging an over 3% gain in the
last two months of 2023.
    The dollar edged higher overnight after minutes of the Fed's
last meeting showed officials were convinced that inflation was
coming under control and were concerned about the risks of the
central bank's "overly restrictive" monetary policy on the
economy.
    However, the minutes did not provide direct clues about when
rate cuts might commence.
    "The minutes helped the market to shave off a few more basis
points of Fed cuts priced for 2024 during the New Year session,"
said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
    "I expect USD/Asia (currencies) to be largely range-bound in
H1 2024 before turning lower persistently in H2 2024 with the
Fed cutting rates in earnest from mid-year," Tan said.
    Investors now await inflation data from Thailand and
Philippines, both due on Friday. Recent inflation prints in
Asian economies have shown easing price trends giving the
central banks in Asia some breathing room.
    "With the FOMC flagging that rate cuts are on the horizon in
2024, Asian central banks will also be starting to plot out when
monetary policy can be eased," said Tim Waterer, chief market
analyst at brokerage firm KCM Trade Global.
    Regional stock markets were broadly mixed. Equities in
Jakarta climbed 0.8% to touch their highest level since
September 2022, while those in South Korea and Singapore
 fell 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
    Stocks in Malaysia rose 0.6% to their highest level
in nearly 11 months.
    Stocks in Manila rose 1.1% to hit their highest level
since early August 2023. The benchmark dropped 0.8% on Wednesday
as trading was halted because of "technical issues" that stopped
transactions for more than two hours.
    The Philippine Stock Exchange, the bourse operator, said it
was conducting an investigation with its third party system
provider to identify the root cause.
    

    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** South Korea sees slower economic recovery, inflation
cooldown
    ** Indonesia raises $2.05 billion in dollar bonds
    ** China's Dec services activity expands at quickest pace in
5 months - Caixin PMI
    
  Asia stock indexes and currencies                       
 at 0447 GMT                                        
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX  INDE  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %     X   DAILY   YTD %
                                                 %  
 Japan                  -0.08  -1.63  <.N2  -0.69   -0.69
                                      25>           
 China                               EC>           
 India                  -0.04  -0.12  <.NS    0.40   -0.59
                                      EI>           
 Indonesi               -0.33  -0.85  <.JK    0.68    0.76
 a                                    SE>           
 Malaysia               -0.22  -1.03  <.KL    0.55    1.08
                                      SE>           
 Philippi               +0.04  -0.35  <.PS    1.05    1.81
 nes                                  I>            
 S.Korea                             11>           
 Singapor               +0.00  -0.72  <.ST   -0.68   -1.93
 e                                    I>            
 Taiwan                 -0.11  -1.00  <.TW   -0.12   -2.19
                                      II>           
 Thailand               -0.39  -1.19  <.SE   -0.25    0.72
                                      TI>           
 

    
 (Reporting by Ayushman Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)