Pasar Berkembang – Rupee, memimpin kenaikan di pasar mata uang Asia; Data China mendukung saham

    * Graphic: World FX rates tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
    * Rupiah set for best week since early-November
    * Rupiah could outperform peers - analyst
    * Lenders lift up Singapore stocks; OCBC doubles Q1 profit

    By Anushka Trivedi
    May 7 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah and the South Korean
won both firmed by 0.5%, leading gains among Asian currencies on
Friday as the dollar backtracked ahead of key jobs data, while
Asian stocks received a boost from China's positive economic
data.
    The rupiah hit a two-month high and was headed for
its best week since early November as the country's quarterly
economic output data on Wednesday hinted at mild recovery and as
foreign investors returned to the country's high-yielding bonds.

    An exodus of outflows, dividend repatriation pressure and
concerns about Bank Indonesia's autonomy had seen the rupiah
slump this year, but it recently found favour among
yield-seekers as the Federal Reserve asserted a dovish stance. 
    As of last close, the yields on Indonesia's benchmark
10-year bonds were down 43.6 basis points from its
March highs. On the day, yields fell 1 basis points to 6.445%.
    "The rupiah is undervalued and is seeing a relief rally on
Q1 growth showing a nascent turnaround," said Chang Wei Liang,
macro-strategist at DBS Bank.
    "With positioning in the rupiah assets still relatively
light, further optimism over growth could see the currency
outperforming regional peers."
    The South Korean won had its best day in a week,
while the Malaysian ringgit, Taiwan's dollar
and the Thai baht firmed between 0.1% to 0.3% as the
greenback eased.
    U.S. payrolls data on Friday will likely confirm the
economy's solid path to recovery from the pandemic, and even
though it could potentially stoke inflation worries, so far the
Fed has downplayed the risks of higher prices.
    Meanwhile, Thailand and Taiwan shares jumped
about 1% each, while South Korea's KOSPI rallied 0.7%   
 after China's surprise export surge and solid services data for
April cemented hopes of continuing economic recovery in the
region's top trade partner.    
    Heavyweight lenders propped up Singapore's bourse
after strong quarterly results at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp
 and United Overseas Bank. 

HIGHLIGHTS
    ** Lenders drag Indonesia stocks
    ** Singapore Press shares tumble up to 15% after
restructuring plan
    ** India's daily COVID-19 cases rise by record 414,188
 Asia stock indexes and currencies at  0403 GMT                                          
 COUNTRY        FX RIC         FX DAILY   FX YTD %    INDEX  STOCKS DAILY %  STOCKS YTD %
                                      %                                      
 Japan                            -0.01      -5.36                     0.07          6.96
 China                            +0.06      +1.07                     0.42         -0.50
 India                             0.00      -0.94                     0.78          6.14
 Indonesia                        +0.23      -1.69                    -0.37         -0.52
 Malaysia                         +0.16      -2.27                     0.30         -2.71
 Philippines                      -0.04      +0.23                     0.15        -11.87
 S.Korea                          +0.46      -3.08                     0.66         11.35
 Singapore                        +0.04      -0.89                     0.72         12.38
 Taiwan                           +0.28      +2.04                     1.10         16.62
 Thailand                         +0.06      -4.01                     0.96          9.50
 

 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru)