EMERGING MARKETS-Asian equities regain footing, South Korea and India lead gains

Updates for afternoon trade

By Roshan Thomas

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian equities steadied on Tuesday, following a bout of volatility sparked a day earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump's nomination for the Federal Reserve chair, while Indian shares were buoyed by a long-awaited U.S. trade deal.

Currency markets held ground while the dollar index =USD edged lower after a two-day advance.

The MSCI index of emerging market currencies .MIEM00000CUS was up 0.6%, while MSCI's gauge of Asian emerging market equities .MIMS00000PUS advanced 3.1%.

A broader index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 2.8%.

Emerging Asian equities sold off sharply in the previous session, with South Korean and Indonesian benchmarks falling more than 5% as investors reassessed their risk appetites amid concerns over the monetary policy stance of President Donald Trump's pick, Kevin Warsh.

"Dip-buying in tech and export-linked stocks, alongside steadier global yields and improving regional sentiment, helped support the recovery from yesterday's sell-off," said Glenn Yin, director of research at ACCM.

South Korean stocks .KS11 surged over 6.5%, led by gains in heavyweight chipmakers. Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 11.4%, while SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 9.3%.

Taiwanese equities .TWII followed suit, rising 1.8%, with the world's largest contract chipmaker TSMC 2330.TW up 2.6%.

Singapore shares .STI rose to just shy of the 5,000 mark, advancing 1.1% to a record high, supported by bank stocks including DBS Group DBSM.SI and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI which were up 0.9% and 1.6%, respectively.

"Investors are rotating into defensive, dividend-rich markets amid regional volatility. Strong bank earnings, a stabilising REIT sector and policy predictability continue to position Singapore as a preferred low-beta play in Asia," Yin said.

Meanwhile, India's equity benchmark .NSEI jumped 3%, while the rupee INR=IN climbed 1.2%, after the Asian country finalised a trade deal with the U.S. that slashed tariffs to 18%, lifting expectations of renewed foreign inflows.

Indonesian stocks .JKSE pared early losses to gain 1.8% after a tumultuous week, during which an MSCI warning over transparency concerns triggered an $80 billion rout and prompted the resignation of the country's top financial regulators.

MSCI said it would not comment on individual discussions, a day after meeting Indonesian officials to address market transparency concerns.

"We currently sense a wait-and-see approach among foreign investors," said Ari Jahja, head of Indonesia research at Macquarie Capital.

"Structural reforms, improved policy execution, and signs of macro uptick would be crucial to boost confidence," Jahja said. The rupiah IDR= was largely unchanged.

Investors now await Thailand's general election on February 8, a three-way contest that could deliver the country's fourth prime minister in less than three years. The baht THB=TH rose 0.4%, while stocks .SETI jumped 1.9%.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Australia's central bank raises rates for first time in two years

** Philippine lawmakers weigh impeachment for President Marcos

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))