EMERGING MARKETS-Asian stocks, FX tumble as new COVID-19 strain triggers lockdown fears

* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh * S. Korean won marks 3-wk low, shares plunge * Thai central bank meeting awaited on Wednesday * Travel 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 growing worries about possible lockdowns due to a new fast-spreading COVID-19 strain. Malaysia and Singapore stocks were on track to fall for a fourth straight session, while the Jakarta index saw its worst day in three weeks as more countries shut their doors to travellers from the UK after the detection of a highly virulent strain of the virus. "There's a lot of money that went into leisure because everybody jumped on the vaccine bandwagon. So obviously that is going to be one of the pawns immediately put in play on these negative headlines," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi. The leaders in the developed world will be more inclined to impose stricter lockdowns for the next four weeks and that is very concerning, Innes added. The new virus strain was detected in Australia on Monday, while Hong Kong and India said they would suspend flights from Britain. Most of the trade- and tourism-reliant stock indexes fell in the region, with South Korea's KOSPI plunging 1.5% as the country battled a rise in infections and imposed new curbs. The won gave up 0.5% to hit a three-week low. Earlier this year, the island-nation was lauded for its handling of the first two waves of the virus. The won has been among the top performing currencies but has fallen 1.7% after new virus cases were reported about two-weeks ago. The Thai baht eased 0.3% a day before the Bank of Thailand's first meeting since the central bank intervened earlier this month in the foreign exchange markets to curb the currency's rapid rise. Analysts at Standard Chartered said in a note that there was limited room for the country's central bank to ease rates, even next year. Instead, it may revise its 2021 growth forecasts as the economy remains weak. A surge in cases over the weekend linked to an outbreak at a seafood centre also clouded Thailand's economic outlook as it threatened to challenge the country's efforts at reviving tourism. Other regional currencies weakened against a broadly stronger greenback, with the Malaysian ringgit, the Indonesian rupiah and the Singapore dollar dropping 0.3% each. HIGHLIGHTS ** Indonesian 10-year benchmark yields are up 9.2 basis points at 6.13% ** Top losers on the Singapore benchmark are: Singapore Airlines, down 4.3% and SATS Ltd, down 3.4% ** Top 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 COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS DAILY % STOCKS YTD % Japan -0.14 +4.99 -1.04 11.75 China -0.02 +6.28 -1.63 10.31 India -0.19 -3.43 -0.62 8.85 Indonesia -0.32 -1.87 -1.68 -3.77 Malaysia -0.27 +0.71 -1.22 2.45 Philippines +0.05 +5.29 -0.31 -7.84 S.Korea -0.42 +4.42 -1.62 24.39 Singapore -0.30 +0.61 -1.20 -12.74 Taiwan +1.32 +6.96 -1.44 18.17 Thailand -0.33 -0.93 1.21 -10.20 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru, additonal reporting by A K Pranav; Editing by Anil D'Silva)