EM ASIA FX-Rupiah leads Asia FX slide as yuan hits 14-month low

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SINGAPORE, April 22 (Reuters) - Most emerging Asian

currencies eased on Tuesday as China's yuan fell to its weakest

in 14 months, with the Indonesian rupiah at a near seven-week

low.

Regional currencies briefly pared some of losses after

China's central bank said it will cut the reserve requirement

ratio for rural banks at the country level by between 0.5 and 2

percentage points, as Beijing looks to shore up flagging

economic growth.

The cut had been announced last week but not the details.

"That is likely to support Asian currencies with more

liquidity," said Yuna Park, a currency and bond analyst at

Dongbu Securities in Seoul.

The People's Bank of China said the measure does not mean a

change in direction of its monetary policy.

"There should be very minimal impact on Asian FX, if any

because it is only for some rural banks," said Andy Ji, Asian

currency strategist for Commonwealth Bank of Australia in

Singapore.

Spot yuan fell as much as 0.2 percent to 6.2390

per dollar, its weakest since February 2013, on increasing

corporate dollar demand and central bank guidance.

Emerging Asian currencies closely track the renminbi due to

the region's heavy dependence on the Chinese economy.

Some regional currencies such as the Singapore dollar

and the Malaysian ringgit are often used as a

proxy to bet on the yuan.

Both the Singapore dollar and the ringgit touched two-week

lows.

The rupiah hit a near seven-week low on month-end

dollar demand from local importers and the currency's weakness

in non-deliverable forwards markets.

South Korea's won, however, bucked against slides

among emerging Asian currencies to end the local trade higher as

exporters' month-end demand for settlements caused investors to

cover short positions.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR

Change on the day at 0825 GMT

Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move

Japan yen 102.51 102.60 +0.09

Sing dlr 1.2559 1.2520 -0.31

Taiwan dlr 30.295 30.268 -0.09

Korean won 1037.45 1039.00 +0.15

Baht 32.31 32.26 -0.17

Peso 44.54 44.43 -0.25

Rupiah 11510.00 11440.00 -0.61

Rupee 60.74 60.59 -0.25

Ringgit 3.2645 3.2505 -0.43

Yuan 6.2368 6.2274 -0.15

Change so far in 2014

Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move

Japan yen 102.51 105.28 +2.70

Sing dlr 1.2559 1.2632 +0.58

Taiwan dlr 30.295 29.950 -1.14

Korean won 1037.45 1055.40 +1.73

Baht 32.31 32.86 +1.70

Peso 44.54 44.40 -0.31

Rupiah 11510.00 12160.00 +5.65

Rupee 60.74 61.80 +1.75

Ringgit 3.2645 3.2755 +0.34

Yuan 6.2368 6.0539 -2.93

(Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon; Editing by Kim Coghill)