* Thai stocks hit highest since May 11 * Indonesian stocks hit highest since May 17 * Philippine stocks up for 3rd day By Arundhati Dutta May 27 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks posted their best day in more than six months on Thursday, recouping all of May"s losses, while most emerging Asian equities and currencies clocked post-holiday gains after taking a beating over the month as COVID-19 cases surge. The Philippine peso and the Thai baht gained 0.4% each and led gains among Asia"s emerging currencies, even as the dollar firmed overnight. "Even with the dollar bounce ... major (USD/foreign currency) pairs are still kept within established ranges," OCBC Treasury Research said in a note. "Some factors still stacked against the dollar. Fed tapering expectations are still not being priced in. There is significant U.S. data event risk in the coming sessions," the brokerage said, referring to the U.S. inflation print due on Friday, which could revive talk of tapering if the reading is high. The greenback remains far from late March highs, as investors weigh the Federal Reserve"s dovish stance, although some officials have hinted that the time to talk about policy changes might be approaching. The Indonesian rupiah, Indian rupee and Chinese yuan all gained around 0.2%. Most of Southeast Asia was shut on Wednesday for a holiday. Philippine stocks ended 5% higher on Thursday but are down 6.7% so far this year, the region"s worst-hit stock market as the country grappled with a spike in COVID-19 cases and restrictions. However, the index gained more than 8% over the last three sessions alone and wiped its losses for the month as lockdowns have started to ease and coronavirus vaccinations have picked up pace. Stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea, however, dipped. In Seoul, investors began to worry that the central bank may be close to winding back stimulus after it upgraded its economic outlook and projected high consumer inflation, signalling an eventual tilt was coming. Foreign investors were the main sellers on the Kospi. In Taiwan, stocks trimmed their earlier losses as the island boosted loans to help small-and-medium-sized firms hit by the pandemic. HIGHLIGHTS **Philippine 3-year benchmark yield is unchanged at 2.5%​ **Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 0.1 basis points at 6.442% **In the Philippines, top losers are Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc and Security Bank Corp Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0722 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX YTD INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % % DAILY % YTD % Japan +0.06 -5.35 -0.33 4.03 China +0.23 +2.37 0.43 3.91 India +0.20 +0.61 0.26 9.72 Indonesia +0.23 -1.76 1.31 -1.45 Malaysia +0.06 -2.84 0.54 -2.51 Philippines +0.31 -0.02 5.11 -6.65 S.Korea -0.11 -2.85 -0.09 10.16 Singapore +0.15 -0.15 0.48 11.16 Taiwan +0.17 +2.55 -0.25 12.69 Thailand +0.32 -4.13 0.74 9.03 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.