* Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah leads decline
* U.S. dollar shines after strong data
* Asian stocks trade mixed
* Singapore August inflation expected to moderate

By Roushni Nair
       Sept 25 (Reuters) - Most Asian currencies struggled for
direction on Monday, with the Indonesian rupiah leading losses,
after hawkish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve last week
set the stage for further rate hikes and bolstered strength in
the U.S. dollar. 
    The Singapore dollar and the Indonesian rupiah
, the best-performing currency in the region, depreciated
0.1% each. 
    The Philippine peso and the South Korean won
 firmed 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. 
    The U.S. dollar index, which on Friday touched an
over six-month high, firmed at 105.6 by 0312 GMT as the latest
U.S. business activity data highlighted resilience in the
world's largest economy. 
    The Federal Reserve left interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5% on
Wednesday but projected higher-for-longer interest rates to
bring inflation under the central bank's target of 2%. 
    In Singapore, surging certificate of entitlement quota
premiums for cars likely kept the country's headline inflation
in August stable, according to Barclays. 
    "Base effects from last year's increase in food prices and
jump in travel costs likely pushed core inflation slightly lower
in August this year," it added. 
    Meanwhile, the recent jump in crude oil prices has increased
concerns about a narrowing current account surplus in net
importers like Thailand and India, which could fan inflationary
pressures.
    Thailand's baht and the Indian rupee eased
0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. 
    All eyes now turn to the Bank of Thailand's interest rate
decision due on Wednesday.
    The central bank is widely expected to leave its key policy
rate unchanged at 2.25% marking an end to a year-long tightening
cycle, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. 
    In India, bonds continued to rally after JPMorgan said it
would include Indian debt in its widely tracked emerging market
debt index, helping the world's fifth-largest economy finance
its current account and fiscal deficits. 
   Stocks in emerging Asia were largely trading mixed, with
those in Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia
 slipping more than 0.5%, each. 
    Shares in Philippines and Singapore rose 0.4%
and 0.3%, respectively.  
    China stocks fell 0.4%, badgered by heavy losses in
real estate stocks after shares of China Evergrande
plunged as much as 24% as the embattled developer was unable to
issue new debt due to an ongoing investigation into one of its
units, dealing a fresh blow to its restructuring plans. 
    
    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Philippines posts August budget deficit of $2.34 bln 
    ** Sliding yen stokes Bank of Japan intervention threat
    ** Indonesia coal production to start declining in 2030 -
official

    
  Asia stock indexes and currencies                          
 at 0348 GMT                                           
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX    INDEX  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %            DAILY   YTD %
                                                    %  
 Japan                  +0.03  -11.6            0.84   27.06
                                   1                   
 China                                                
 India                  -0.18  -0.43             0.00    8.67
 Indonesi               -0.14  +1.12            -0.16    2.27
 a                                                     
 Malaysia               +0.06  -6.02            -0.47   -3.48
 Philippi               +0.08  -1.93             0.37   -6.10
 nes                                                   
 S.Korea                                              
 Singapor               -0.10  -1.90             0.17   -1.26
 e                                                     
 Taiwan                 -0.06  -4.46             0.70   16.42
 Thailand               -0.04  -3.90            -0.33   -9.05
 
    
 (Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Miral
Fahmy)