Rupiah slides as capital outflows bite

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies extended losses on Thursday with the Indian rupee falling to a record low and the Indonesian rupiah hitting a fresh four-year trough, as capital continued to flow out of the region due to the prospect of a cut in stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Malaysian ringgit slid to the lowest in more than three years, while the Thai baht touched a 13-month low.

"There is a lot of resemblance to prior crises like 1997-98. We have had two countries going down, India and Indonesia, and now you have got to start thinking about the third and fourth countries," said Pradeep Mohinani, a Nomura credit analyst in Hong Kong.

"The likely candidates would be those with high fiscal deficits, slowing economies and high foreign ownership of government bonds. Thailand and Malaysia tick most of the boxes in that regard."

The rupee lost as much as 1.6 percent to 64.13 per dollar and the country's bond yields hit another five-year high. The currency regained some ground on the back of central bank intervention.

The rupiah fell 2.0 percent to trade at 10,700 to the greenback, its lowest level since April 30, 2009 as Jakarta stocks tumbled about 5 percent and most government bond yields rose. Indonesian importers chased dollars, while state-run banks provided dollar liquidity on behalf of the central bank.

The Thai baht slid 1.1 percent to 31.72 per dollar, its weakest since July 26, 2012, also hurt after the economy shrank unexpectedly in the second quarter, slipping into a mild recession.

The ringgit fell 0.4 percent to 3.3005 to the dollar, its weakest level since June 2010, as local stocks lost more than 2 percent and as bond yields climbed.

The ringgit might manage to hold above 3.3000 in the short-term as intervention from the central bank was spotted, traders said.

* The Philippines suspended trading in financial markets for a second day due to heavy rains.

(Reporting by Jongwoo Cheon, Additional reporting by Umesh Desai in HONG KONG; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)