EM ASIA FX-Yuan eases in NDFs on China data, rupiah falls

* Yuan NDFs scale back appreciation after GDP data

* Rupiah dips in spot, NDFs as China data fan profit-taking

SINGAPORE, Oct 22 - The Chinese yuan eased in non-deliverable forwards market after third quarter growth data offered no major upside surprise, which also triggered profit-taking on risky plays, such as the Indonesian rupiah.

The U.S. dollar bounced off a 14-month low against a basket of major currencies after data showed China's economic growth accelerated to 8.9 percent in the third quarter from 7.9 percent in the second, largely in line with market expectations.

YUAN

Yuan NDFs scaled back expected appreciation after the Chinese gross domestic product data, which disappointed some investors who had expected a much stronger growth rate.

"Investment banks and local banks are currently on the same side, buying up aggressively in the NDFs because the market was expecting GDP growth much better than 9 percent," said a trader.

One-year dollar/yuan NDFs rose to 6.619 by 0452 GMT, implying a 3.1 percent yuan rise from the spot compared to 3.3 percent at Wednesday's close.

"We think that the NDF curve is reasonably valued at these levels," said a second trader.

Most analysts expect China to let the yuan, which has been effectively pegged to the dollar since mid-2008, to resume its steady appreciation from early next year to help ward off inflation pressures.

"Yuan appreciation is forecast to resume from the second quarter as pressure on corporate margins eases, exports rise on a year-on-year basis, capital inflows increase, and foreign pressure for appreciation grows," said Ben Simpfendorfer, economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.

He predicted in a client note that the yuan would rise to 6.5 per dollar by the end of 2010, up 5 percent from the current level near 6.827.

RUPIAH

The spot rupiah briefly touched 9,475 per dollar, a drop of 0.6 percent from Wednesday. The rupiah remains the best performing currency in Asia with a gain of 16 percent against the dollar so far this year.

"We see some custodian names are selling rupiah on the behalf of their offshore investors. The profit-taking comes from their SBI portfolios," said a Jakarta-based trader.

Foreigners have snapped up Indonesia's central bank debt (SBI) in recent months.

Three-month dollar/rupiah NDFs inched up to 9,570, implying a 1.1 percent rupiah fall from the spot compared to 1.4 percent at Wednesday's close.

"I think it's due to short-covering after China's figures and some rumours that hedge funds are unwinding a lot of their risky assets," said a Singapore-based NDF trader. CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR Change on the day at 0515 GMT Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move Japan yen 91.10 90.99 -0.12 Sing dlr 1.3933 1.3895 -0.27 Taiwan dlr 32.382 32.395 +0.04 Korean won 1185.15 1179.00 -0.52 Baht 33.42 33.42 +0.00 Peso 47.13 46.91 -0.47 Rupiah 9465.00 9415.00 -0.53 Rupee 46.59 46.49 -0.21 Ringgit 3.3835 3.3750 -0.25 Yuan 6.8269 6.8273 +0.01 Change so far in 2009 Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Japan yen 91.10 90.60 -0.55 Sing dlr 1.3933 1.4340 +2.92 Taiwan dlr 32.382 32.860 +1.48 Korean won 1185.15 1259.50 +6.27 Baht 33.42 34.80 +4.13 Peso 47.13 47.52 +0.83 Rupiah 9465.00 11000.00 +16.22 Rupee 46.59 48.71 +4.56 Ringgit 3.3835 3.4500 +1.97 Yuan 6.8269 6.8230 -0.06