Reuters

By Susan Mathew

Oct 30 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian currencies rose on Monday as the dollar dipped slightly but hovered near three-month highs amid uncertainty on who President

Donald Trump will name as the next Federal Reserve chair.

"Most Asian currencies are benefiting from a softer U.S. dollar tone, amidst an easing in U.S. Treasury yields on Friday," Wei Liang Chang, FX strategist at Mizuho Bank.

Also coming from the U.S. on Friday were media reports that the first indictment in the investigation of possible Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was approved.

"Concerns over indictments against Trump's campaign, as well as reports that Trump is likely to nominate Powell to be the next Fed Chair have dampened U.S. dollar enthusiasm for now." Chang said.

Trump is expected to announce his decision before he departs for a trip to Asia on Nov. 3.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Fed holds a policy meeting at which it is expected to leave rates unchanged.

Among regional currencies, the Taiwan dollar was up 0.3 percent, its biggest intraday gain in nearly three weeks.

Taiwan shares were helped by a gain of over 1 percent in its semiconductor index. Apple Inc said last week that pre-orders for iPhone X were "off the charts".

The South Korean won was up 0.6 percent, its highest since Sept. 1

South Korea's foreign ministry said Lee Do-hoon, its representative for six-party nuclear talks, and his Chinese counterpart, Kong Xuanyou, will meet in Beijing on Tuesday.

They are to exchange analyses on the current situation regarding North Korea's nuclear and missile programme and also discuss ways to cooperate in managing the situation in a stable manner.

The Indonesian rupiah was up 0.2 percent, after hitting a 16-year low on Friday. The rise came ahead of third quarter foreign direct investment data later on Monday.

The Thai baht was up 0.2 percent, its biggest one-day gain since Oct. 12, while the Indian rupee rose as much as 0.3 percent.

CHINESE YUAN

The yuan rose 0.12 percent as the government's bond unwinding picked up.

China'sMinistry of Finance on Monday auctioned 34 billion yuan ($5.12 billion) of special treasury bonds of 5-year tenor at a yield of 3.9206 percent, traders said.

Yields on Chinese 10-year treasury bonds rose to 3.895 percent on Monday, their highest level since October, 2014.

Rising yuan yields "reflect concerns that liquidity might stay tight as monetary policy focus returns to reining in credit growth and buffering against a Fed rate hike in December", Chang added.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR