By Rajasik Mukherjee and Roushni Nair

Feb 21 (Reuters) - Asian currencies, led by the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah, recorded slight gains on Friday, as regional equities also strengthened, with investors assessing U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats as largely rhetoric.

Some traders view the impact of Trump's tariffs on growth as temporary, with new tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports delayed, while a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and levies on global steel and aluminium have been implemented

The rupiah IDR= rose as much as 0.3% against the dollar, while the ringgit MYR= rose 0.2% to a two-week high. The MSCI gauge of emerging market currencies .MIEM00000CUS added 0.2%, hitting its highest in over three months.

The U.S. dollar index =USD, that measures the currency against six major counterparts, on Thursday touched its lowest for 2025 at 106.29 and was last at 106.44.

The U.S. dollar was set for a third weekly drop in a row as bulls who had built up big long positions in anticipation of a trade war have backed off while Trump equivocates about tariffs.

Markets appear to have become overall immune to tariff headlines, waiting for a firmer plan, which is now expected to come closer to April, analysts at Barclays said in a note.

"Risk sentiment among the EM investors seemed to have turned better this week, but we wait for more clarity for a more fundamental recovery."

Meanwhile, this week, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose by 1.3% and is poised for its fourth consecutive week of gains, driven by strong earnings from United Overseas Bank UOBH.SI and Singapore Airlines SIAL.SI, which enhanced the positive sentiment from the promising 2025 budget.

The index, however, traded flat on Friday, a move mirrored by the local currency, Singapore dollar SGD=.

Elsewhere in the region, Philippine stocks .PSI gained as much as 0.7% with property developer Ayala Land ALI.PS rising as much as 2.9% after it reported higher revenue for year.

Stocks in Jakarta .JKSE, however, inched 0.3% lower while Malaysian shares .KLSE advanced 0.3%.

Taiwanese stocks .TWII rose nearly 1%, on track to gain over 2% for the week, its highest level in 2025.

The Japanese yen JPY= lost as much 0.7% after data showed that core inflation grew at its fastest pace in 19 months, reinforcing bets that Bank of Japan will hike its rates once again this year, as forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

Nearby, the South Korean won KRW=KFTC pared some of its gains to trade flat while a Reuters poll suggested that its central bank will cut interest rates by a quarter point next week.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Alibaba shares open at three year-high as quarterly revenue rebounds

** Malaysia's January CPI rises 1.7% y/y, in line with forecast

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)

((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))