* South Korean won leads losses
* Philippine stocks down more than 1%
* Markets await Chinese rate decision on Tuesday

By Rishav Chatterjee
       June 19 (Reuters) - Asian emerging markets were under
pressure on Monday, with currencies inching lower against a
strengthening dollar and most equities trading lower as
investors awaited central bank meetings and more economic
stimulus from China.
    The South Korean won and the Indonesian rupiah
 lead the losses alongside other major currencies in the
region, down 0.7% and 0.4% respectively. Equities in Jakarta
 were 0.3% lower.
        The dollar index, which measures the U.S.
currency against six major rivals, rose marginally to 102.33,
not far from a one-month low of 102 it touched on Friday. It was
later trading at 102.35.
    "South Korean markets are tracking the Friday Wall Street
drag where AI and semiconductor stocks took a hit," said Poon
Panichpibool, a markets strategist at Krung Thai Bank. 
    Markets are tracking the fall in U.S. stocks on Friday,
which is also pushing the South Korean won lower, Panichpibool
added. 
    The yuan in China was also trading 0.3% lower
with its stock markets also down 0.5%, as investors look
for more information on economic stimulus and expect a rate cut
later in the week.
    "The People's Bank of China's heavily anticipated MLF
(medium-term lending facility) rate cut on Tuesday could
positively affect Asian stock markets and currencies," Poon
said.
    Analysts at Barclays expect the PBoC to continue to ease
monetary policy.
    "We forecast an additional 30bp of policy rate cuts, 50bp of
cuts to banks' reserve requirement ratio, and a reduction of
60-80bp to mortgage rates for both new and existing home loans."
    The Philippine central bank, which is set to meet this week,
downgraded its current account deficit projections for 2023 and
2024 despite rising global financial uncertainties.
    Stock markets in the region were also trading lower, with
shares in Manila down around 1%. 
    The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in its last meeting
kept its interest rate unchanged after cumulative increases of
425 basis points (bps) over the previous 12 months.
    Bank Indonesia is also set to meet this Thursday, and is
widely expected to keep its rates unchanged for the fifth
straight meeting as inflation remains within its target.
        Philip Sung Seng WEE, FX Strategist at DBS Bank, did not
expect the Thai baht to break the 34.6 level against the dollar,
after the 
    FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee)
     meeting last week, but added he may revisit his
expectations.
  
        The baht was down 0.3% against the dollar,
trading at the 34.72 level. 
  
    Equities in Seoul and Singapore dropped 0.9%
and 0.6%, respectively while stocks in Kuala Lumpur and
Bangkok fell 0.3% and 0.2%. 
        
  
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Philippine c.bank trims 2023, 2024 current account
deficit forecasts
    ** Japan's Nikkei recoups early losses on yen's weakness

    ** Thailand host Myanmar junta official for talks; key ASEAN
members stay away
  Asia stock indexes and                             
 currencies at 0432 GMT                         
 COUNTRY  FX RIC        FX     FX  INDE  STOCK  STOCK
                     DAILY  YTD %     X      S  S YTD
                         %               DAILY      %
                                             %  
 Japan               +0.17  -7.40  <.N2  -1.24  27.57
                                   25>          
 China                           EC>          
 India               -0.05  +0.91  <.NS   0.08   4.06
                                   EI>          
 Indones             -0.37  +3.87  <.JK  -0.29  -2.51
 ia                                SE>          
 Malaysi             +0.00  -4.58  <.KL  -0.31  -7.44
 a                                 SE>          
 Philipp             -0.18  -0.22  <.PS  -1.07  -1.94
 ines                              I>           
 S.Korea                         11>          
 Singapo             -0.13  +0.05  <.ST  -0.61  -0.34
 re                                I>           
 Taiwan              -0.15  -0.25  <.TW  -0.09  22.18
                                   II>          
 Thailan             -0.30  -0.39  <.SE  -0.22  -6.75
 d                                 TI>          
 
    

    
 (Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru)