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Thursday May 15, 11:51 AM Emerging FX-Asia mostly steady, but won, ringgit fall SINGAPORE, May 15 (Reuters) - Asian currencies were mostly steady on Thursday as stocks edged up due to benign U.S. inflation, but the South Korean won and Malaysian ringgit fell as investors continued to trim their risky positions. The Philippine peso briefly rose to 42.78 per dollar, up a fifth of a percent from Wednesday's close, while the Thai baht gained a third of a percent to 32.35 per dollar. The firmer tone for the currencies reflected a modest correction after the peso had slipped on Wednesday to a 5-1/2-month low and the baht had dropped to a three-month low. "The day started with profit taking from offshore players -- selling the dollar/baht after the market turned into long positions (on the dollar)," said a trader in Bangkok. The trader predicted that the baht would move between 32.33 and 32.47 for the day and cautioned that the baht's near-term upside could be contained by rising dollar demand from oil companies. The Singapore dollar moved in a tight range of 1.3793 and 1.3830 to the U.S. dollar. MSCI's index of Asian shares outside Japan gained about 0.5 percent, following a rise in U.S. stocks on Wednesday after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in April. The data helped ease fears of an inflationary spurt triggered by soaring oil prices and suggested that the Federal Reserve might have more latitude to keep interest rates at 2 percent. [ID:nN14432716] Oil prices slipped below $124 per barrel on Wednesday from a record high of $127 hit earlier this week after U.S. inventory data showed a buildup in distillate stocks and as concerns over Iranian supplies eased after the country said it had no plans to cut exports. But the South Korean won fell to 1,051 per dollar, down almost 0.4 percent from late Asian trade on Wednesday, reflecting concerns about the economy's resilience to rising oil and food prices. The Malaysian ringgit lost almost half of a percent to 3.275 per dollar, its weakest level since late January. It took losses since May 6 to close to 4 percent. "Overall, sentiment and momentum suggest near-term dollar/Asia upside as remaining a near-term market risk," JPMorgan analysts Claudio Piron and Yen Ping Ho said in a note. "We continue to favour the dollar versus the Indian rupee and the won as the vehicles to express dollar upside, reflecting the lack of current account buffer against higher oil prices and a lack of clear central bank bias for FX to address inflation." But recent dips in the Chinese yuan in offshore forwards market have created an opportunity for investors to buy the yuan versus the dollar on the market, they suggested. The spot yuan steadied near 7.00 to the dollar, little changed from Wednesday's close, although analysts expect it to regain its upward trend as China tries to tame inflation. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0306 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 105.06 105.02 -0.04 Sing dlr 1.3842 1.3822 -0.14 Taiwan dlr 30.971 31.002 +0.10 Korean won 1050.60 1047.10 -0.33 Baht 32.44 32.46 +0.06 Peso 42.77 42.86 +0.20 Rupiah 9310.00 9292.00 -0.19 Ringgit 3.2745 3.2600 -0.44 Yuan 7.0010 7.0030 +0.03 Change so far in 2008 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 105.06 111.33 +5.97 Sing dlr 1.3842 1.4382 +3.90 Taiwan dlr 30.971 32.443 +4.75 Korean won 1050.60 935.70 -10.94 Baht 32.44 33.68 +3.82 Peso 42.77 41.28 -3.48 Rupiah 9310.00 9390.00 +0.86 Rupee 42.44 39.41 -7.14 Ringgit 3.2745 3.3050 +0.93 Yuan 7.0010 7.3041 +4.33 (Reporting by Kevin Yao; editing by Neil Fullick)