* Malaysian ringgit eyes best week since April 2016
* Singapore's Q2 GDP grew 0.3% q-o-q
* Equities in South Korea and Taiwan climbed over 1.1%

By Nausheen Thusoo
       July 14 (Reuters) - Thailand's baht extended losses on
Friday, weighed down by lingering political uncertainty, while
improved risk appetite following easing U.S. inflation data
propelled several Asian currencies to the sharpest weekly gains
in years. 
    The baht fell 0.2%, bucking the regional trend, but
was up 1.8% in the week. 
    Thai politician Pita Limjaroenrat said on Thursday he would
not give up on his prime ministerial bid after losing a
parliamentary vote for the premiership, where he was 51 votes
shy of the required threshold.  
    "Political uncertainties will continue to drag on over the
next few weeks until the voting results are done, in the
meantime, the market may continue to move sideways." said Kasem
Prunratanamala, head of Thailand research at CGS-CIMB. 
    In the rest of Asia, currencies sharply rallied against a
weaker dollar.
    "Sharp dollar softness following the U.S. CPI data release
helped pushed riskier currencies stronger. That alongside the
sharp moves in the JPY and CNY also helped move regional
currencies in general." said Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX
research at Maybank.
    The Philippines peso rose 0.1%, taking weekly gains
to 2.2% and eyeing its best week in over 11 years.     
    The Malaysian ringgit - which is the worst performing
Asia currency this year - led gains on Friday. The currency is
up 3.3% this week, on track for its biggest weekly jump since
April 2016.      
    "There also seems to be some portfolio inflows into
Malaysian assets, including equity flows as the dollar move
which broke certain support thresholds led to potential
triggers," Supaat said. 
    In Singapore, data showed the city-state's economy narrowly
escaped a recession in the second quarter as global demand
weakened and China's slowdown dragged on trade flows. The local
dollar was up 0.3%. 
    The Taiwanese dollar and South Korea's won
 both gained over 0.7%.
    In the U.S., data showed that producer prices barely rose in
June. That, combined with other data like declining jobless
claims and modestly rising CPI, stoked bets that the Fed's rate
hike cycle is nearing end, bolstering risk appetite.
   
    "U.S. CPI has delivered a boost for EM assets, adding to our
view that many EM central banks will use the broadening
disinflationary trend to start cutting rates," Barclays wrote in
a note.
    Equities in Asia have notched sharp gains this week. Stocks
in Malaysia rose to their highest level since early June
while those in Singapore rose over 3.5%.   
    On Friday, shares in South Korea, Taiwan and
Thailand all climbed over 1%.     
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** China's central bank will use policy tools, like the
reserve requirement ratio and medium-term lending facility, to
weather the challenges faced by the world's second-largest
economy
    ** The Philippine central bank is determined to bring
inflation back to its 2%-4% target range  
    ** IMF sees 'pockets of resilience', slowing momentum in
global economy
    ** Indonesia 10-yr bond yield drops to 6.179%, lowest since
November 2021  
    
  Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0410 GMT
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX  INDE  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %     X   DAILY   YTD %
                                                 %  
 Japan                  +0.40  -4.63  <.N2   0.23   24.52
                                      25>           
 China                               EC>           
 India                  +0.03  +0.82  <.NS    0.24    7.48
                                      EI>           
 Indonesi               +0.27  +4.29  <.JK    0.51   -0.08
 a                                    SE>           
 Malaysia               +1.55  -2.59  <.KL    0.82   -5.87
                                      SE>           
 Philippi               +0.11  +2.49  <.PS   -0.56   -0.38
 nes                                  I>            
 S.Korea                             11>           
 Singapor               +0.25  +1.62  <.ST    0.27   -0.12
 e                                    I>            
 Taiwan                 +0.75  -0.48  <.TW    1.15   22.07
                                      II>           
 Thailand               -0.19  +0.03  <.SE    1.11   -9.47
                                      TI>           
 
    
 (Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan)