* Rupiah set for fifth week of losses * Taiwan, Indonesia c. banks stand pat on interest rates * Philippine central bank to meet next Thursday * U.S.-China first high-level talks going on By Nikhil Subba and Nikhil Nainan March 19 (Reuters) - Philippine shares fell nearly 3% on Friday, leading declines across Asia, as a rise in U.S. bond yields continued to sap appetite for the region"s equities and currencies. Indonesia"s rupiah and Taiwan"s dollar fell around half a percent against a firmer greenback after their central banks left interest rates unchanged on Thursday. China stocks fell more than 2%. "Despite short-lived positive mood changers like this week"s FOMC meeting, the medium-term thinking around higher U.S. yields is holding local currency bulls at bay," said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi. Yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was around 1.70%, the highest level they have been since January last year, and was set to record eight straight weeks of gains. Emerging market central banks in Brazil and Turkey have aggressively raised interest rates to counter a rise in U.S. yields to stem capital outflows. Back in Asia, Indonesia"s rupiah was down 0.4% and was set for a fifth week of losses, having lost 4% since Feb. 16. So far "in March, most Asian spot exchange rates that we track have depreciated past their 50- and 100-day moving averages," DBS analysts said. Indonesia"s central bank has kept its key rates unchanged at a record low of 3.50%, but its head of monetary management told CNBC on Friday that it stands ready to against any currency volatility. "We expect the central bank to remain on hold in the near term despite inflation falling below the bank"s 2%-4% target, as the currency is expected to remain pressured," said Nicholas Mapa, a senior economist at ING. In a similar move, Taiwan"s central bank stood pat on interest rates, as expected, while raising the export-reliant island"s annual economic growth forecast. The Philippine central bank will hold its policy meeting next Thursday at a time when the country is faced with rising COVID-19 cases and its stock market is the worst-affected among its regional peers so far this year. BofA Securities analysts said continued restrictions and slow vaccine rollout reinforce their view that growth in 2021 will be below the consensus forecast of 5.3%. Investors will also be watching the first high-level, in person talks between the U.S. and Chinese officials since Joe Biden took over as president. The world"s two largest economies have already levelled sharp rebukes over each other"s stance on several policy issues. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields up 6.2 basis points to 6.814% ** PLDT Inc, Aboitiz Power Corp and SM Prime Holdings in the Philippines ** The Philippines approved the emergency use of Russia"s Sputnik V vaccine as COVID-19 cases spike Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0636 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD % Japan +0.06 -5.12 -1.41 8.56 China -0.05 +0.30 -2.11 -2.40 India +0.01 +0.75 -0.14 3.97 Indonesia -0.35 -2.77 -0.53 5.61 Malaysia -0.12 -2.28 -0.40 -0.35 Philippines -0.02 -1.36 -2.94 -9.85 S.Korea -0.61 -3.93 -0.86 5.78 Singapore +0.05 -1.63 0.08 10.42 Taiwan -0.61 +0.01 -1.34 9.08 Thailand -0.06 -2.85 -0.54 7.66 (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin and Arun Koyyur)