Rising Markets-Asian shares, Forex tumble as new COVID-19 strain triggers lockdown fears

    * Graphic: Entire world Forex costs tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
    * S. Korean received marks 3-wk low, shares plunge
    * Thai central bank conference awaited on Wednesday
    * Vacation and industrial stocks tumble in Asia

    By Anushka Trivedi
    Dec 22 (Reuters) - Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore
shares slumped up to 2% on Tuesday, dragged down by export and
travel focussed shares on developing concerns about probable
lockdowns due to a new quick-spreading COVID-19 strain.
    Malaysia and Singapore shares ended up on observe
to slide for a fourth straight session, though the Jakarta index
 observed its worst day in a few months as a lot more countries shut
their doorways to travellers from the United kingdom soon after the detection of a
remarkably virulent strain of the virus.   
    "You can find a good deal of dollars that went into leisure mainly because
everybody jumped on the vaccine bandwagon. So certainly that is
likely to be one of the pawns straight away put in play on these
adverse headlines," reported Stephen Innes, main international sector
strategist at Axi.  
    The leaders in the made earth will be more inclined to
impose stricter lockdowns for the following four weeks and that is
pretty about, Innes included.
    The new virus pressure was detected in Australia on Monday,
even though Hong Kong and India said they would suspend flights from
Britain. 
    Most of the trade- and tourism-reliant inventory indexes fell in
the location, with South Korea's KOSPI plunging 1.5% as
the country battled a rise in infections and imposed new curbs.
The received gave up .5% to hit a a few-week lower.

    Previously this year, the island-country was lauded for its
dealing with of the initial two waves of the virus. The gained has been
among the the top rated executing currencies but has fallen 1.7% just after
new virus circumstances were noted about two-months in the past.
    The Thai baht eased .3% a working day prior to the Bank of
Thailand's to start with conference since the central bank intervened
before this month in the foreign exchange markets to curb the
currency's immediate rise. 
    Analysts at Standard Chartered mentioned in a notice that there was
restricted area for the country's central financial institution to simplicity fees, even
next yr. Alternatively, it could revise its 2021 advancement forecasts as
the financial state continues to be weak.
    A surge in circumstances over the weekend linked to an outbreak at a
 seafood centre also clouded Thailand's economic outlook as it
threatened to problem the country's initiatives at reviving
tourism.
    Other regional currencies weakened from a broadly
much better buck, with the Malaysian ringgit, the
Indonesian rupiah and the Singapore dollar
dropping .3% just about every.

HIGHLIGHTS
    
    ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up
9.2 foundation factors at 6.13%
    ** Best losers on the Singapore benchmark are:
Singapore Airways, down 4.3% and SATS Ltd,
down 3.4%
    ** Prime losers on the Malaysia benchmark are: Genting
Malaysia Bhd down 4.7% and Genting Bhd down
4.4% 

 Asia stock indexes and currencies at                                                    
 0658 GMT                                                                   
 Region      Fx RIC       Fx Day-to-day %   Fx YTD %    INDEX   Shares Day-to-day %   Shares YTD %
 Japan                          -.14      +4.99                     -1.04          11.75
 China                          -.02      +6.28                     -1.63          10.31
 India                          -.19      -3.43                     -.62           8.85
 Indonesia                      -.32      -1.87                     -1.68          -3.77
 Malaysia                       -.27      +.71                     -1.22           2.45
 Philippines                    +.05      +5.29                     -.31          -7.84
 S.Korea                        -.42      +4.42                     -1.62          24.39
 Singapore                      -.30      +.61                     -1.20         -12.74
 Taiwan                         +1.32      +6.96                     -1.44          18.17
 Thailand                       -.33      -.93                      1.21         -10.20
 


 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru, additonal reporting
by A K Pranav Enhancing by Anil D'Silva)