* Rupiah up 0.4% to 16,110 per dollar
* Bank Indonesia to keep rates unchanged - Reuters poll
* Malaysian stocks touch over 3-year high
* TSMC drops over 3% after Trump comment

By Shivangi  Lahiri
       July 17 (Reuters) - The Indonesian rupiah rose to a
seven-week high on Wednesday ahead of the central bank's
monetary policy decision, while most other Asian currencies
traded in a tight range as investors continued to bet on U.S.
rate cuts later in the year.
    Equities in Malaysia touched their highest level in
more than three years, helped by a broad-based rally across
sectors, while shares in Taiwan lost around 1% as
chipmaking giant TSMC weighed on the index.
    The rupiah rose as much as 0.4% to 16,110 per dollar,
its highest level since late May, while the benchmark index
 traded flat, as market focus turned to Bank Indonesia's
(BI) monetary policy decision in a few hours.
    BI is expected to keep its interest rate unchanged,
according to a Reuters poll, but is expected to cut by a
quarter-point in the next quarter.
    "The central bank is expected to keep the policy sails
steady when they meet later today, while continuing with its FX
smoothening operations," Radhika Rao, senior economist at DBS,
wrote.
    The rupiah, which languished around four-year lows in late
June, has now recovered some ground and is up over 2% since
then, benefiting from intensifying bets on U.S. rate cuts and a
soft dollar.
    "Rupiah has benefited in terms of dollar weakening," said
Nagaraj Kulkarni, co-head of Asia rates strategy (excluding
China) at Standard Chartered.
    "We have seen some relief on the inflation front in the U.S.
and as a result, Fed rate cut expectations. That has led to some
softening in the dollar and as an emerging market currency, in
the rupiah as well."
    Earlier in the month, President-elect Prabowo Subianto's
team was quoted saying that the incoming government would
maintain the status quo on the debt-to-GDP ratio, with the
budget deficit capped at 3%.
    "As of now, markets are obviously focused on the U.S.
elections as well and not pricing in significant expansionary
fiscal policy from Indonesia," Kulkarni added.
    Elsewhere, currencies were rangebound: the Philippine peso
, Singapore dollar, and Thailand's baht
edged higher, while the South Korean won was up 0.3%.
    Among equities, the Malaysian benchmark rose as much
as 0.7% to the highest level since mid-March 2021. Stocks in
Thailand rose around 0.5%, while those in the
Philippines and South Korea roughly fell by that
much.
    On the other hand, stocks in Taiwan lost up to 1%,
weighed down by chipmaker TSMC which declined more
than 3% after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump said
Taiwan should pay the United States for its defence.

    HIGHLIGHTS:    
    ** Singapore's June exports fall steeper than forecast
    ** Philippine central bank amends foreign exchange reporting
rules
    ** Thai industrial sentiment at 2-year low in June, business
group says
    ** Markets in India closed for a public holiday on Wednesday
    
 Asia stock indexes and currencies                        
 at 0349 GMT                                        
 COUNTRY   FX RIC          FX     FX  INDE  STOCKS  STOCKS
                      DAILY %  YTD %     X   DAILY   YTD %
                                                 %  
 Japan                  +0.01  -10.9  <.N2  -0.28   23.00
                                   1  25>           
 China                               EC>           
 India                      -  -0.45  <.NS       -   13.26
                                      EI>           
 Indonesi               +0.28  -4.56  <.JK   -0.03   -0.69
 a                                    SE>           
 Malaysia               +0.04  -1.76  <.KL    0.68   12.53
                                      SE>           
 Philippi               +0.12  -5.03  <.PS   -0.48    2.87
 nes                                  I>            
 S.Korea                             11>           
 Singapor               +0.10  -1.76  <.ST    0.09    7.74
 e                                    I>            
 Taiwan                 +0.03  -5.77  <.TW   -0.49   33.18
                                      II>           
 Thailand               +0.13  -4.98  <.SE    0.48   -6.23
                                      TI>           
 
    
 (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim
Coghill)