* South Korean won falls for third consecutive day
* Investors digest mixed Chinese trade data
* Thai baht, stocks down after CPI print

By Archishma Iyer
       Dec 7 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian currencies and
stocks declined on Thursday, as investors stayed cautious ahead
of a key U.S. jobs report that could give clarity on the Federal
Reserve's interest rate trajectory. 
    South Korea's won led the decline among
currencies, falling as much as 0.9% to 1,324.70 per dollar. The
unit was set to fall for a third consecutive session. The
Indonesian rupiah slipped as much as 0.3%.  
    "The USD/KRW pair is trading towards 1,320, with KRW
strength dampened by a softer RMB (renminbi) and a marked
softening in Korea's inflation," analysts at DBS said in a note.
    "Core inflation is not falling that quickly, easing slightly
for November, which could underpin Bank Of Korea’s decision to
hold rates for a longer period, supporting the KRW," they added.
    Data on Wednesday showed U.S. private payrolls increased
less than expected in November, in yet another sign that the
labour market is gradually cooling.
    Market participants will now focus on the non-farm payrolls
report on Friday, which is likely to give a clearer view of the
Fed's future actions. 
    "Thus far, however, even as labour market metrics turned out
to be softer than anticipated, USD continues to rise," Maybank
analysts wrote. 
    The dollar index, which measures the strength of the
greenback against six major rivals, was at 104.18 at 0355 GMT. 
    Investors also digested mixed economic data from China,
Asia's largest economy, which showed an uptick in exports while
imports fell sharply, suggesting that domestic demand was still
subdued. 
    Chinese stocks fell 0.3%, while the yuan
traded flat.  
    Other currencies such as the Singapore dollar fell
for the fourth straight session, while the Malaysian ringgit
 and Taiwan dollar traded 0.2% lower.  
    Thailand's baht and stocks were down 0.2%
and 1%, respectively, after Southeast Asia's second-largest
economy reported its November inflation print at its lowest in
nearly three years. 
    Among Asian equities, stocks in Singapore fell as
much as 1.1% to a near five-week low, while equities in Taiwan
, Philippines and Malaysia slipped between
0.2% and 0.6%. 

    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesia's benchmark 10-year bond yield falls to 6.580%
    ** Myanmar's central bank to no longer set forex rates 
    ** Malaysia launches plan to boost biomass co-firing,
investments by 2030
    
    
 Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0355 GMT
 COUNTRY      FX RIC         FX   FX YTD    INDEX  STOCKS  STOCKS
                          DAILY        %            DAILY   YTD %
                              %                         %  
 Japan                    +0.32   -10.71           -1.73    25.94
 China                    -0.04    -3.64            -0.29   -4.17
 India                    -0.04    -0.76            -0.03   15.61
 Indonesia                -0.24    +0.24            -0.53    2.90
 Malaysia                 -0.19    -5.88            -0.21   -3.52
 Philippines              -0.05    +0.61            -0.62   -4.57
 S.Korea                  -0.82    -4.49            -0.17   11.39
 Singapore                -0.04    -0.19            -0.98   -5.98
 Taiwan                   -0.14    -2.67            -0.30   22.43
 Thailand                 -0.23    -2.00            -1.00  -17.56
 

 (Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; editing by Eileen
Soreng)