* Asian FX logs mild gains
* Thai baht, Singapore dollar only outlier
* Equities edge higher

By Roushni Nair
       Oct 17 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asia currencies
steadied and share markets recovered ground on Tuesday after
dovish comments from a senior U.S. Federal Reserve official,
while investors watched for any risk of the war between Israel
and Hamas leading to a wider conflict. 
    The Malaysian ringgit, the Indian rupee, and
the South Korean won inched up 0.1% by 0336 GMT. The
Indonesian rupiah and the Philippines peso were
largely unchanged. 
    Equities across Southeast Asia traded higher as interest
rate jitters eased globally after Federal Reserve Bank of
Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said on Monday the central
bank should not create new pressures in the economy by
increasing the cost of borrowing.
    Market participants were keenly awaiting more speeches by
central bankers this week, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell, to
gauge the outlook for monetary policy.  
    Shares in Seoul and Manila advanced over 1%,
while those in Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore
 added over 0.4% each. 
    The U.S. dollar index, on the other hand, eased 0.05%
to 106.3, after dropping 0.36% on Monday. 
    Investors were also awaiting gross domestic product, retail
sales, and industrial production, and other data from China,
Southeast Asia's largest trading partner, due to be released on
Wednesday.
    "While we expect near-term China economic data to remain
soft, we should see the various stimulus measures and system
liquidity feeding through to better Chinese growth moving
through Q4 – this could support risk appetite more broadly and
see traders move away from safe havens," Chris Weston, an
analyst at Pepperstone said. 
    The South Korean and Indonesian central banks are expected
to leave interest rates unchanged when the they hold policy
meetings on Thursday, according to Reuters polls.
    Bucking the trend in Asian markets on Tuesday, Thailand's
baht retreated as much as 0.7%. 
    The recent unprecedented rise in oil prices has increased
the prospects of higher import bills for net-importing countries
like Thailand and India, adding to inflationary woes. 
    In India, the central bank's regular intervention is
preventing the rupee from weakening past a record low of 83.29
per dollar hit in October last year, according to traders. 
    The Singapore dollar also eased 0.1%, after the trade
reliant island's exports fell for a 12th straight month in
September.
    "We could likely see this trend persist for a bit longer due
to still soft global demand which should in turn feed into soft
GDP numbers," analysts at ING said in a note. 
  
    
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields rise 1.5 basis points
to 6.774%
    ** Bank of Korea to hold base rate on Oct. 19, rate cut call
pushed to Q2 2024 - POLL 
    
  Asia stock indexes and currencies                           
 at 0442 GMT                                            
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX     INDEX  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %             DAILY   YTD %
                                                     %  
 Japan                  -0.03  -12.3             1.14   24.52
                                   2                    
 China                                                 
 India                  +0.06  -0.61              0.52    9.55
 Indonesi               -0.03  -0.99              0.33    1.00
 a                                                      
 Malaysia               +0.04  -7.02              0.24   -3.55
 Philippi               +0.04  -1.87              1.08   -4.58
 nes                                                    
 S.Korea                                               
 Singapor               -0.09  -2.10              0.31   -2.39
 e                                                      
 Taiwan                 -0.05  -4.92              0.11   17.91
 Thailand               -0.60  -5.14              0.54  -14.01
 
    

    
 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)