* Most Asian currencies, shares advance
* Thai Baht hits highest in over a week
* S.Korean equities hits two week high

By John Biju
       Oct 11 (Reuters) - Most Asian emerging market currencies
and equities gained on Wednesday as dovish remarks by Federal
Reserve officials undermined the dollar and drove U.S. Treasury
yields down.
    The Thai baht and the Taiwan dollar 
gained 0.3% each while the South Korean won advanced
0.2%. The three currencies are trading at their highest levels
since late September.  
    Asian currencies benefited from an easing dollar, hovering 
near a two week low, which slid after recent comments from U.S.
Federal Reserve officials signalled that the central bank might
not have to raise interest rate again. 
    The remarks and the accompanying pullback in U.S. Treasury
yields are the major recent factors for markets, Christopher
Wong, FX strategist at OCBC said. 
    All eyes are now on the minutes of the Fed's September
policy meeting due later in the day as well as inflation data
for September on Thursday which will provide further clues on
the rate outlook.
    On the whole, financial markets continued to keep a close
watch on the conflict in the Middle East and the price of oil.
High oil prices could create additional inflationary concerns
for net oil importing countries such as India, Indonesia and
Thailand. 
    The Israeli shekel was trading largely unchanged at
3.9395 per U.S. dollar. 
    Minutes of Thailand central bank's September policy meeting
showed that financial conditions in the country have tightened
but were still supportive of an ongoing economic recovery.  
    The Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso
advanced around 0.2% each.
   The rupiah, which has retreated 0.9% so far this year after
holding gains for much of 2023, has caught attention of the
central bank which said that it is "always in the market" to
defend the currency after it fell 0.3% on Tuesday. 
    Equities in Asia advanced with shares in Seoul
rising 2.5% to hit their highest level since Sept. 27 while
those in Jakarta jumped 0.4% to their strongest level
since Oct. 3. Shares in Taiwan rose 0.9% to hit their
highest level since Sept. 19. 
    Over in India, traders are awaiting the September inflation
data on Thursday where retail inflation is seen easing on
moderating food price rises and government subsidies, according
to a Reuters poll. 
    Investors are also keeping an eye out for the Singapore
central bank's policy review and inflation data from China on
Friday. 

    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark yields fell 6.8
basis points to 6.873% , their lowest level since Sept 27 
    ** IMF raises India's FY24 GDP growth forecast to 6.3% -
report
    ** Philippine c.bank not ruling out 25 bps rate hike in
November
    
    
  Asia stock indexes and                             
 currencies at 0336 GMT                         
 COUNTRY  FX RIC        FX     FX  INDE  STOCK  STOCK
                     DAILY  YTD %     X      S  S YTD
                         %               DAILY      %
                                             %  
 Japan               -0.05  -11.8  <.N2  0.60   22.39
                                7  25>          
 China                           EC>          
 India               +0.03  -0.60  <.NS   0.00   8.75
                                   EI>          
 Indones             +0.19  -0.86  <.JK   0.43   1.48
 ia                                SE>          
 Malaysi             +0.04  -6.88  <.KL   0.13  -3.91
 a                                 SE>          
 Philipp             +0.17  -1.88  <.PS   0.35  -4.27
 ines                              I>           
 S.Korea             +0.19  -5.81  <.KS   2.46  10.07
                                   11>          
 Singapo             -0.01  -1.70  <.ST  -0.34  -1.94
 re                                I>           
 Taiwan              +0.33  -4.34  <.TW   0.90  17.90
                                   II>          
 Thailan             +0.33  -5.14  <.SE   0.42  -13.6
 d                                 TI>              8
 

    
 (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)