* S.Korean won touches near 2-week low
* Malaysian ringgit hits 11-month low
* Philippines peso marks 1-week low

By Roushni Nair
       Oct 16 (Reuters) - Asian equity markets fell on Monday,
and the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah led currency
declines against the safe-haven greenback as investors exercised
caution amid the potential escalation of the Israel-Hamas
conflict.
    The ringgit touched its lowest level since November
2022, weakening 0.3% by 0357 GMT. The rupiah followed
suit to give up 0.2%, while the Philippines peso hit its
lowest in nearly a week.
    Equities in Southeast Asia were down, with markets in
Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur losing nearly 0.4%
each.
    Malaysia said last week it intended to introduce a capital
gains tax and a tax on high-value goods and gradually cut
subsidies to aid recovery in the country's fiscal position, as a
slowdown in the economy strained government spending. 
    Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar stood near a one-week high
against a basket of currencies as risk sentiment remained
fragile amid the Israeli-Hamas war, which has shed light on
rising geopolitical risks for financial markets. 
    Market participants were looking forward to a speech by
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday for further
clues on the U.S. central bank's rate outlook. 
    The Israeli shekel fell to more than an eight-year
low of 3.9900 per dollar in early Asia trade. 
    "(Emerging markets) Asia FX will inevitably be on the back
foot under these conditions, especially if the double whammy of
higher oil prices and stronger USD take any shine out of softer
yields," said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics & strategy at
Mizuho. 
    Investors are keenly awaiting a slew of economic data this
week, including central banks' monetary policy meetings in Korea
and Indonesia on Thursday. 
    The focus remains on China, Southeast Asia's largest trading
partner, which will release data points including gross domestic
product, retail sales and industrial production on Wednesday. 
    China's central bank ramped up liquidity support to the
banking system as it rolled over medium-term policy loans on
Monday, but kept the interest rate unchanged as expected.
    Chinese yuan depreciated by 0.1%, while mainland
stocks gave up more than 0.4%. 
    "CNH (yuan) downside risks remain intact amid uncertainty
premium on both ends with USD boosted by geopolitics and CNH
dimmed by prospects of a durable growth boost," Varathan said. 
    In South Korea, the won shed over 0.3%, with the
currency marking its lowest level since Oct. 4. 
    Shares in South Korea lost more than 1%, while those
in Thailand retreated as much as 2.4% to mark the lowest
level since December 2020. The Thai benchmark is on track for
its largest single-day percentage drop since March 14. 
         
  
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Indonesia Sept exports down 16.2% y/y, more than expected
    ** South Korea plans to offer bigger tax refunds to foreign
tourists - finmin
    ** Indian cenbank likely selling dollars to keep rupee off
record low -traders
    
  Asia stock indexes and currencies                          
 at 0440 GMT                                           
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX    INDEX  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %            DAILY   YTD %
                                                    %  
 Japan                  +0.07  -12.2           -1.95   23.21
                                   7                   
 China                                                
 India                  +0.01  -0.64            -0.12    8.96
 Indonesi               -0.21  -0.94            -0.44    0.67
 a                                                     
 Malaysia               -0.25  -7.11            -0.43   -3.84
 Philippi               -0.05  -2.01            -0.33   -4.89
 nes                                                   
 S.Korea                                              
 Singapor               -0.07  -2.16            -0.68   -2.68
 e                                                     
 Taiwan                 -0.22  -4.90            -0.99   17.53
 Thailand               +0.07  -4.51            -2.14  -14.92
 
    
 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie
Freed)