EMERGING MARKETS-EM assets waver on data flood; markets watch Southeast Asia's big two

By Pranav Kashyap

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Most emerging market assets were mixed on Monday as investors navigated a flood of new economic data, and eyed the latest moves out of Southeast Asia's two largest economies.

Indonesian assets IDR=, .JKSE clawed back early losses as upbeat trade data provided some interim support, though bonds stayed under pressure.

Even so, anxiety over prolonged instability persisted as hundreds of students gathered in cities nationwide Monday, undeterred by possible reprisals after weekend riots tied to election-law changes left eight dead—the worst in over 20 years.

In Thailand, the baht THB= was little changed, while stocks .SETI gained 0.5%, but was still down more than 11% for the year.

The country's political crisis deepened after the Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Friday for ethics violations.

On the macro-front, a gauge tracking emerging market stocks .MSCIEF rose 0.7% after four straight sessions of declines, its longest losing streak in nearly eight months.

However, a similar gauge for currencies .MIEM00000CUS was flat.

Globally, investors kicked off September with a pulse-check on emerging economies and on manufacturing and services across regions.

The Turkish lira TRY= stayed stuck in a 0%–0.1% band as traders parsed stronger-than-expected second-quarter growth of 4.8% even after prolonged tightening, while Istanbul stocks .XU100 held steady.

"The much-stronger-than-expected Q2 Turkish GDP growth figure (driven by domestic demand) is likely to make the central bank tread cautiously and suggests that the risks to our hawkish interest rate forecast lie to the upside," said William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.

Across central and emerging Europe, August PMIs rolled in.

Hungary's factory activity shrank, Poland's contraction deepened, and the Czech downturn extended.

Still, Warsaw .WIG20 and Budapest .BUX stocks were set to break out of a three-session losing streak, rising 0.4% and 0.6% respectively.

The forint EURHUF= gained 0.4% against the euro, the zloty was flat and the koruna EURCZK= inched up 0.1%.

Meanwhile, the Russian rouble RUB= fell 1% against the dollar and was set for its worst day in nearly a month.

Activity across the country's manufacturing sector declined for the third month running in August.

After Washington ramped up tariff pressure on India over New Delhi's continued Russian oil imports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two countries stood shoulder to shoulder, even in tough times.

Separately, India's manufacturing surged at its fastest pace in more than 17 years in August. Stocks in Mumbai .NSEI, .BSEI rose 0.6%, while the rupee INR= hovered near record lows.

"Indian refiners seem determined to continue buying Russian crude despite U.S. tariffs aimed at penalising the nation," said Dr Mike Haigh, head of FIC and commodity research at Societe Generale.

Meanwhile, investor confidence in Chinese stocks continued to rise, with Shanghai stocks .SSEC flirting with fresh 10-year highs. Shares in Hong Kong .HIS jumped 2%, driven by Alibaba 9988.HK, BABA.K after the e-commerce company reported strong AI-driven growth.

South Korean equities .KS11 fell 1.3%, led by slides in Samsung 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS after Washington revoked authorisations that allowed them to secure U.S. semiconductor manufacturing equipment for their chip plants in China.

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets, nTOPEMRG

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/

For TURKISH market report, see .IS

For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB