* South Korea, Taiwan shares up around 2% * Indonesia"s rupiah edges 0.1% higher * Chinese markets reopen on Friday Oct 7 (Reuters) - Asia"s emerging currencies edged higher on Thursday as Treasury yields retreated on signs of a deal to avert a U.S. federal debt default, calming markets ahead of data that could signal when the Federal Reserve may start tapering. Lower oil prices also supported the currencies of Asia"s big oil importers such as South Korea, which alongside the Thai baht and Philippine peso led the region with gains of between 0.2% and 0.4%. Stocks in South Korea and Taiwan both climbed about 2%, providing some respite to a week-long period of losses brought on by inflation fears and supply disruptions. Politicians in Washington appeared close to a temporary deal that would avoid a shutdown of the U.S. government and see an extension of the federal debt ceiling into December. That left markets largely awaiting U.S. employment data on Friday for clues as to when the Fed may start to wind down its pandemic-era asset purchases, which could reduce demand for Asia"s higher-yielding but riskier assets. "A very strong number on all counts may see the market bring forward expectations of Fed rate hikes, which will be positive for the dollar and keep Asian currencies on the back foot," Khoon Goh, ANZ"s head of Asia research said. In September, the Fed said it was likely to begin reducing its monthly bond purchases as soon as November. Chinese markets, a big directional driver for Asia, will reopen on Friday after a week-long public holiday, improving liquidity, although fears of wider property market woes stemming from the Evergrande crisis could return to the fore. "Chinese market sentiment will also be a crucial driver, and the restart of South-bound flows may lift Hong Kong equities and lift broader Asian sentiment," Wei-Liang Chang, an FX and credit strategist at DBS said. Local media reports earlier this week said the heavily-indebted Chinese property firm will be selling a stake in its property management arm to raise cash as it faces one of the country"s largest-ever debt restructurings with more than $300 billion in liabilities. Elsewhere, Indonesian shares dipped, while the rupiah, which backs some of emerging markets highest-yielding debt, edged 0.1% higher. The country"s foreign exchange reserves rose in September by about $2.1 billion to a record $146.9 billion, the central bank said. It was one of the currencies in Asia that suffered heavily in the 2013 taper tantrum. Friday will also see a meeting of India"s central bank, where policymakers are widely expected to keep the repo rate unchanged to support recovering growth. HIGHLIGHTS: ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields up 2 basis points at 6.33% ** Thai consumer confidence rises in Sept on eased coronavirus curbs Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0647 GMT COUNTRY FX FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS RIC DAILY % YTD % DAILY % YTD % Japan +0.04 -7.29 0.54 0.85 China +0.36 +1.25 0.90 2.74 India +0.23 -2.32 1.10 27.59 Indonesia +0.14 -1.34 -0.11 7.21 Malaysia +0.07 -3.83 0.01 -4.15 Philippines +0.24 -5.31 -1.50 -2.64 S.Korea +0.16 -8.75 1.76 2.99 Singapore +0.08 -2.69 0.89 9.41 Taiwan +0.03 +1.86 1.96 13.45 Thailand +0.41 -11.28 0.91 12.76 (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin and Sriraj Kalluvila)