* Philippine peso down 0.4%, equities down 0.7%
* S.Korean won declines 0.6%
* Taiwan shares at an over one-month high
* U.S. inflation data in focus
* India inflation likely eased in October -Reuters poll

By John Biju
       Nov 13 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian market currencies
and stock benchmarks got off to soft start on Monday with the
Philippines' peso and shares among those making declines ahead
of a monetary policy decision later in the week.
    The peso retreated 0.4% to 56.090 per dollar, while
equities in Manila fell 0.7%.
    Last Thursday, data showed the Philippine economy rebounded
strongly in the third quarter but the central bank said policy
is expected to remain "tighter for longer" as inflation is still
a major challenge.
    That said, most analysts expect no change to interest rates 
 from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Thursday.
    HSBC analysts said in a note that it was, however, likely to
maintain its "hawkish rhetoric given upside risks to inflation".
    Other currencies also lost ground ahead of U.S. inflation
data on Tuesday.
    "We expect a stronger (U.S.) core inflation read
tomorrow ... which may reignite a sell-off in U.S. Treasuries
and give a boost to the USD," Alex Loo, macro strategist at TD
Securities said.
    "We expect Asian currencies to trade on the backfoot on
renewed USD strength."
    The South Korean won and the Thai baht each
declined 0.6%. The Indonesian rupiah and the Chinese yuan
 slipped 0.2%.
    The U.S. dollar index was steady at 105.810 as of 
0440 GMT, while the 10-year benchmark yield ticked
higher to 4.6598%.
    Among regional equities markets, shares in Thailand
fell 0.7% while shares in South Korea and China
edged 0.2% lower.
    Taiwan shares advanced 1.0% to hit their highest
level since Sept. 18. Shares in Indonesia climbed 0.4%. 
    Markets participants are also awaiting consumer price data
from India later in the day for clues to the interest rate
outlook in Asia's third biggest economy.
    The pace of India's consumer price inflation likely eased
further to a four-month low of 4.80% in October, according to a
Reuters poll.
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:
    ** Thailand's 10-year benchmark yields rise 7
basis points to 3.14%
    ** Thai PM sticks by signature stimulus plan amid calls for
scale-down
    ** Japan's wholesale inflation slows sharply in sign of
waning cost pressures
 
  Asia stock indexes and                                           
 currencies at 0333 GMT                                    
 COUNTRY      FX RIC          FX     FX    INDEX   STOCKS    STOCKS
                           DAILY  YTD %           DAILY %     YTD %
                               %                           
 Japan                     -0.13  -13.5            -0.02    24.78
                                      7                    
 China                     -0.16  -5.43             -0.24     -1.87
 India                     +0.04  -0.71              0.00      7.84
 Indonesia                 -0.13  -0.92              0.44     -0.16
 Philippines               -0.42  -0.71             -0.66     -6.78
 S.Korea                   -0.61  -4.81             -0.21      7.52
 Singapore                 -0.05  -1.54                 -     -4.45
 Taiwan                    -0.05  -5.13              0.96     19.13
 Thailand                   -0.6  -4.14              -0.7    -17.19
 

    
 (Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)