Updates as of 0722 GMT

By Sameer Manekar

July 9 (Reuters) - Asian emerging markets currencies declined on Wednesday as the dollar scaled a two-week peak, while most equity indexes gained as investors shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump's ever-changing tariff salvos.

The U.S. dollar index =USD climbed to a two-week high of 97.598 against a basket of major currencies, buoyed by Trump's protectionist measures on imports that have sent countries scrambling to secure a deal by August 1.

On Tuesday, Trump said the new deadline won't be extended further, reversing market optimism.

The MSCI gauge of global emerging market currencies .MIEM00000CUS slipped for the fourth consecutive session on the day.

Malaysia's ringgit MYR=, Thailand's baht THB=TH, Indonesia's rupiah IDR= and Singapore's dollar SGD= hovered near their two-week lows, while the Philippine peso PHP= was largely unchanged.

Vietnam's dong VND= and Mexico's peso MXN= eased slightly.

Equities, on the other hand, were trending higher.

Singapore shares .STI touched an all-time high for the sixth straight day, while stocks in Indonesia .JKSE, the Philippines .PSI, South Korea .KS11, Vietnam .VNI and Taiwan .TWII rose as much as a percentage point.

Market participants took the latest round of Trump tariffs in stride and were immune to the tariff noise, Michael Brown, senior research strategist at forex broker Pepperstone, said.

"While there's a chance the new tariff threats could well come to fruition... the path of least resistance for equities should continue leading higher."

The ringgit MYR= remained steady, while equities dropped as much as 0.5% to a two-week low after Malaysia's central bank slashed its key interest rate by 25 basis points, as was widely expected.

Tariff concerns were partly the reason for today's rate cut, Jeff Ng, head of Asia macro strategy at SMBC, said, adding that Trump's threat of copper, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals tariffs is a negative for the Malaysian economy.

Governments in Southeast Asia are stepping up negotiations with Washington, with the region among the hardest hit by Trump's sweeping tariffs, including trans-shipment levies, as the U.S. aims to curb China's trade penetration in the region.

Trade will be the focal point at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers on the day.

Malaysia's trade minister, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, at a Reuters event in Singapore on Wednesday, said he was "still optimistic" about reaching a deal with the U.S., and that there were no plans to retaliate against the tariffs.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Malaysia's Public Bank PUBM.KL falls 1.4%

** Indonesian copper-gold miner Amman Mineral AMMN.JK gains 4.8%

** Indonesia's 10-year benchmark yield ID10YT=RR ticks higher to 6.611%

** Malaysia calls for stronger inter-ASEAN trade amid tariff uncertainty

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Sonali Paul)

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