By Sameer Manekar

April 17 (Reuters) - Emerging Asian equities ticked higher in a narrow range on Thursday, led by stocks in South Korea, even as uncertainties around U.S. tariff policies and fears of an economic slowdown remained a concern.

The MSCI gauge of emerging Asian equities .MIMS00000PUS rose 0.4% after an over 1% drop the previous day. An index of ASEAN stocks .MISU00000PUS - dominated by Southeast Asian firms - advanced for a seventh session.

South Korea's KOSPI index .KS11 rose 0.6% as the central bank held its interest rate steady, as widely expected. The move is largely seen as aiding the won KRW=KFTC, which has weakened more than 3% since the U.S. announced tariffs on trading partners on April 2, though it has reduced most of the levies except for those against China.

Taiwan stocks .TWII skidded marginally, dragged by a 1.5% fall in top contract chipmaker TSMC 2330.TW ahead of its quarterly earnings.

Stocks in Asia consolidated at the start of the week but tumbled on Wednesday after the U.S. unveiled curbs on some Nvidia NVDA.O chip exports to China, amplifying trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's warning on the risks of a growth downturn and a rise in inflation sent Wall Street indexes spiralling overnight.

Traders are tuned into the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and Japan for clues on how President Donald Trump would negotiate with other countries, while the direction of discussions with China remains the biggest overhang.

Kenneth Tang, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management, said a long-drawn-out negotiation period would be negative for a lot of export-oriented countries in ASEAN, particularly Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

"Uncertainty is always the worst recipe for markets, and that is going to be a more challenging environment for the second half of this year," Tang said.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore's FTSE Straits Times index .STI jumped more than 1% to a nine-session high, though it remained over 6% below its pre-April 2 levels.

The city-state's banks were the top gainers in the benchmark, alongside Singapore Telecommunications STEL.SI and ST Engineering STEG.SI which gained around 2%.

"The price action on these stocks suggests that the market is taking a view that they are going to benefit because they are safer, more resilient, and are a flight to quality and safety," Tang said.

Benchmark gauges in Indonesia .JKSE and Malaysia .KLSE gained 0.5%, while Thailand's key equities gauge .SETI slipped slightly.

A recent rally in emerging Asian currencies fizzled out as the dollar =USD held steady against a basket of major peers.

Analysts widely predict the recent gains in most Asian currencies will be short-lived as tariff-induced growth headwinds and the knock-on effect of a weak Chinese yuan intensify depreciation pressure.

Singapore's dollar SGD= slipped from a near six-month high notched during early trading hours on Thursday. Thailand's baht THB=TH was anchored around its late-October highs as gold's sizzling rally supported the unit.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark bond yield ID10YT=RR at 6.938%

** Asian countries look to buy more US energy to offset trade imbalance

** Singapore March exports miss forecasts

** BOJ warns US tariff uncertainty may hurt confidence, economy

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com;))