EMERGING MARKETS-Asian stocks skid, currencies slip on turmoil in Middle East

• MSCI EM Asia equities index falls 1.1%
• Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia stocks down 2% in early trading
• Currencies on the back foot against U.S dollar

March 2 (Reuters) - Stocks in emerging Asia markets tumbled in early trade on Monday, as military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran sent investors fleeing to the relative safety of the dollar, gold, and bonds.

The MSCI gauge of emerging Asian equities .MIMS00000PUS fell 1.1%, its worst session in about a month, while an index tracking ASEAN stocks .MISU00000PUS dropped 1.5% to its lowest in two weeks.

The strikes on the weekend followed by Tehran's retaliatory missile barrages across the region drove oil prices about 7% higher, reaching levels not seen in recent months.

U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that the conflict could go on for the next four weeks has added to the uncertainty, deepening fears that the violence may spread to other parts of the Middle East.

Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index .STI slid as much as 2.4% to its lowest point in four weeks, marking its worst intra-day drop since April 11 last year.

The city-state's flag carrier, Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI, lost as much as 7.5%, clocking its worst day since late July 2025. Global air travel remained heavily disrupted as the war in Iran kept key transit hubs, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Doha in Qatar, closed for a third day.

In Australia, Qantas QAN.AX tumbled as much as 10.4%, while Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific 0293.HK lost as much as 7%.

Malaysia's benchmark index .KLSE fell about 2% to its lowest in more than seven weeks, while stocks in Indonesia .JKSE were down about 2.3% at a three-week low.

Elsewhere, stocks in Taiwan .TWII dropped as much as 2.3%, while those in the Philippines .PSI declined 2.8% in their biggest one-day fall since early November.

In Indonesia, where financial markets have been bruised this year on governance concerns, the country's central bank said it would remain present in the market through intervention given the conflict in the Middle East.

The rupiah IDR= was down 0.5% at 16,825 a dollar, little moved by the statement.

Other regional currencies were also on the back foot as the U.S. dollar index =USD jumped to its highest in weeks in early Asian trading. The MSCI index of global EM currencies .MIEM00000CUS also lost 0.5% to a one-week low.

Singapore's dollar SGD= slipped 0.4% to 1.27 a dollar, the lowest in more than a week, while Malaysia's ringgit MYR= and the Philippine peso PHP= each fell about 0.5%.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Yield on Indonesia's 10-year government bonds ID10YT=RR slips to 6.404%

Indonesia bourse to phase in 15% free-float rule, may batch firms by readiness

Shares in other Asian airlines also decline: Japan Airlines 9201.T, ANA Holdings 9202.T and Taiwan's China Airlines 2610.TW down between 5% and 7%