EMERGING MARKETS-Asian equities rebound ahead of key cenbank meetings

* BOJ, Fed meetings in focus * Ringgit at highest since early January * Stocks rebound in S.Korea, Taiwan * Inflation data awaited from Indonesia, S.Korea (Updates at 0625 GMT) By Shivangi Lahiri July 29 (Reuters) - Asian equities recovered on Monday, heading into a week packed with key central bank policy decisions and domestic economic data, as traders looked to gauge their sentiment with risky emerging market assets in the near term. MSCI's gauge of equities in emerging Asia and a broader index of stocks in Asia excluding Japan advanced 1% each, reversing declines from a sharp sell-off last week when investors rotated out of tech stocks. Regional currencies still traded in a tight range, except for the Malaysian ringgit and the South Korean won which gained modestly, taking the former to its highest since January. Globally, investors now await Wednesday's monetary policy meetings of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the U.S. Federal Reserve. While the BOJ's stance on interest rate and its bond-buying program continues to be uncertain, traders will be scouring statements from the Fed in order to validate their bets of a September rate cut. "If the FOMC does pivot more dovish, that should set the scene for further dollar declines" and lend support to Asian currencies, said Khoon Goh, Asia research head at ANZ. A Fed rate cut would widen yield differentials between U.S. and Asian bonds, making emerging markets attractive for investors. CME's FedWatch tool shows a 100% chance of a rate cut in September. The Malaysian ringgit advanced 0.5% to 4.630 a dollar, its highest since early January, while the benchmark index added 0.8%. Malaysia's stocks and currency have outperformed regional peers this year. Malaysia has been a beneficiary of political stability, favourable policies, attractive valuations in companies, and strong economic growth, making it a favoured spot in the region for investors to park their money, said Sudip Biswas, deputy chief investment officer at Tokio Marine Asset Management. A stable ringgit and a trend for global companies to diversify manufacturing setups beyond China are also offering further tailwinds, Biswas added. Elsewhere, shares in Seoul and in Taipei advanced more than 1.5% each, after last week's massive tech rout triggered by investors ditching megacap stocks. In Japan, the yen strengthened as much as 0.4% while the Nikkei share average rebounded from Friday's three-month low. A Reuters poll of 37 economists showed the BOJ is likely to skip rate hikes this month but prioritise scaling back bond-buying. A more hawkish than expected BOJ would spell further strength in the yen, which would spill into Asian currencies, Goh added. Inflation data from Indonesia and South Korea will also be on investors' radar this week. HIGHLIGHTS: ** BOJ's victory lap on deflation paves way for rate-hike cycle ** South Korea prepares support for e-commerce vendors hit by payment delays ** POLL-Brazil central bank to stand pat for second time on July 31, economists say ** Venezuela's Maduro wins third term, electoral authority says ** Markets in Thailand closed for a public holiday Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0625 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX FX INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % DAILY YTD % % Japan +0.26 -8.00 2.13 15.56 China -0.06 -2.16 -0.03 -2.85 India 0.00 -0.62 0.60 14.97 Indonesia 0.00 -5.47 0.24 0.45 Malaysia +0.58 -0.82 0.74 11.69 Philippine -0.07 -5.14 0.05 4.33 s S.Korea +0.16 -6.77 1.30 4.23 Singapore +0.04 -1.66 0.72 6.51 Taiwan +0.03 -6.36 0.20 23.61 Thailand - -4.86 - -7.67 (Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)