India"s rupee and stocks were among the top losers in Asian emerging markets on Tuesday as investors sold risky assets ahead of a slew of key central bank meetings this week, while China"s lingering property sector woes also weighed on sentiment. A stronger dollar (.DXY) pinned down Asian currencies on expectations the Federal Reserve will bring forward an end to its bond buying stimulus when its two-day review wraps up on Wednesday, setting the path for earlier rate hikes. On Thursday, the central banks of Indonesia and the Philippines are both expected to stand pat on interest rates at monetary policy meetings, while the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will meet later that day. "Risk markets retreated ahead of the series of central bank meetings scheduled for this week," ANZ analysts said in a note. "Reining in inflation will be top of the agenda for many, as will be managing the risk that Omicron poses." The World Health Organization has said the Omicron variant of the coronavirus poses a "very high" global risk, while Britain on Monday reported the first death from the variant. read more Meanwhile, Manila-based Asian Development Bank trimmed its growth forecasts for developing Asia for this year and next due to Omicron-related uncertainty and slowing growth at top trade partner China. read more Equities in Indonesia (.JKSE), Malaysia (.KLSE), India (.NSEI) and Taiwan (.TWII) fell between 0.4% and 1%, following China stocks (.SSEC) lower after the first Omicron case was detected in the country. read more Concerns over the financial health of property developer Shimao Group Holdings Ltd (0813.HK) added to jitters in the Hong Kong and Chinese markets. The yuan , however, firmed 0.1% on sustained year-end corporate demand, even as a former senior official at China"s FX regulator cautioned the country should avoid excess appreciation in the currency. read more The Indian rupee hit an 18-month low, while the Malaysian ringgit , South Korea"s won and the Singapore dollar shed 0.1% to 0.3%. Manila shares (.PSI) were the only major gainers of the day, rising 0.5%, after the Philippine central bank, ahead of the scheduled monetary policy meeting, pledged it would continue to support economy for as long as necessary. read more HIGHLIGHTS ** Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is likely to wait until the end of next year before raising interest rates due to the current uneven economic recovery and cooling inflation - Reuters poll read more ** The Philippines secures a loan to purchase 40 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, as it aims to fully vaccinate at least 54 million people, or nearly half of the country"s population before the year ends. read more ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 2.1 basis points at 6.336%​​ Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0646 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD % Japan -0.04 -9.13 (.N225) -0.73 3.60 China +0.09 +2.61 (.SSEC) -0.61 5.34 India -0.16 -3.72 (.NSEI) -0.19 23.99 Indonesia +0.00 -2.09 (.JKSE) -0.79 10.55 Malaysia -0.19 -5.03 (.KLSE) -0.51 -8.60 Philippines +0.00 -4.63 (.PSI) 0.49 1.30 S.Korea -0.15 -8.15 (.KS11) -0.46 3.98 Singapore -0.06 -3.45 (.STI) 0.14 9.86 Taiwan -0.07 +2.40 (.TWII) -0.95 19.46 Thailand -0.12 -10.30 (.SETI) -0.43 11.69 Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.