* Taiwan shares on course for 4th straight weekly fall
* Currencies appreciate with ringgit adding 0.7%
* Rupiah up 0.5%, breaches 16,000-level

By Himanshi Akhand
       Aug 8 (Reuters) - Asian equity markets were subdued on
Thursday as a rebound rally fizzled out, with stocks in Taiwan
and South Korea falling the most due to a tech selloff, while
Malaysia's ringgit and Indonesia's rupiah led gains among
currencies.
    Taiwan stocks were last down 1.6% after sliding as
much as 2.7% earlier in the session. Heavyweight TSMC
dropped as much as 3.6%. 
    The benchmark index is on course for its fourth straight
weekly decline, the first such trend since December 2022.
    Shares in South Korea fell 0.9% as chip and battery makers
tracked a slump of more than 1% in the tech-heavy Nasdaq index
overnight.
    Equities in Singapore inched up 0.3%, while those in
Indonesia dipped 0.1%.
    "It is quite clear that sentiment remains fragile and we
caution that there could be some volatility from jobless claims
data in the U.S. tonight, especially if it reinforces the
narrative of a recession," said Saktiandi Supaat, chief FX
strategist at Maybank.
    The steep selloff in risk assets earlier this week was
exacerbated by a number of factors including the unwinding of
the yen carry trade, lukewarm tech earnings and fears of a U.S.
recession after a soft jobs report.
    Regional currencies appreciated, boosted by a defensive
dollar, which was hovering near the seven-month low it
touched on Monday.
    Malaysia's ringgit, the only Asian currency to log a
year-to-date gain so far, jumped 0.7%.
    "There is more positive idiosyncratic optimism towards the
MYR amid the government reforms, better than expected growth and
more foreign investor interest," Supaat said. 
    Coordinated conversions by government-linked companies had
also given support to the currency, he added. 
    The Indonesian rupiah appreciated 0.5% to breach the
psychological 16,000-level for the first time since late-May,
helped by more inflows and easing inflation. 
    In Thailand, the Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered
the dissolution of anti-establishment opposition party Move
Forward, which won the most seats in the 2023 election.
    However, there was little impact on the baht, which
edged up 0.3%, and stocks which gained 0.4%.
    The Philippine peso was up 0.4% and stocks
gained 0.3% after data showed that the Philippine economy
expanded 6.3% in the second quarter, with government spending
and investments offsetting anemic consumption growth as
inflation weighed on households.
    Meanwhile, the Indian rupee was flat and stocks
 extended losses to drop 0.6% after the Reserve Bank of
India kept key interest rate unchanged, as expected. 
        
    HIGHLIGHTS:
    ** South Korea's state-run think tank argues for early rate
cuts
    ** DBS picks insider Tan Su Shan as first female CEO to lead
Southeast Asia's biggest bank
    ** BOJ debated further rate hikes in July, prompting hawkish
shift

 Asia stock indexes and currencies as at 0453 GMT
 COUNTRY     FX RIC          FX     FX  INDE  STOCKS  STOCKS
                        DAILY %  YTD %     X   DAILY   YTD %
                                                   %  
 Japan                    +0.49  -3.36  <.N2  -0.39    4.45
                                        25>           
 China                                 EC>           
 India                    +0.01  -0.88  <.NS   -0.61   11.12
                                        EI>           
 Indonesia                +0.47  -3.51  <.JK   -0.12   -0.95
                                        SE>           
 Malaysia                 +0.67  +2.87  <.KL    0.01    9.44
                                        SE>           
 Philippine               +0.35  -3.56  <.PS    0.30    1.62
 s                                      I>            
 S.Korea                               11>           
 Singapore                +0.23  -0.42  <.ST    0.25    0.54
                                        I>            
 Taiwan                   +0.31  -5.66  <.TW   -1.56   16.91
                                        II>           
 Thailand                 +0.27  -3.67  <.SE    0.44   -8.45
                                        TI>           
 
    
 (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Additional
reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava; Editing by Stephen Coates)