dec 10 reuters  most asian currencies and equities retreated on friday losing ground gained earlier this week as investors waited for us inflation data that could likely make the case for faster tapering by the federal reserve however all major asian currencies except the indian rupee  were set to log positive weekly gains lifted by easing omicron concerns the singapore dollar was on pace to snap six straight weeks of declines the thai baht appreciated more than 1 in a holidaytruncated trading week while malaysias ringgit was set for modest gains as waning fears of the impact of the omicron variant lifted prospects for the tourismreliant economies on friday the south korean won weakened 04 to mark its worst intraday drop in a month and indonesian rupiah lost 02 while chinas yuan slipped sharply off its 312year high in the previous session following the central banks strong policy signal the us dollar index inched lower to 9617 but was chasing its seventh straight weekly rise ahead of the inflation data due later today where any upside surprise will likely be also interpreted as a case for sooner interest rate hikes a reuters poll expects us inflation to climb to 68 in november compared with prior months 62 which was the largest yearonyear advance since november 1990 read more this could build on worries of fed quickening its pace of normalisation inferring from recent fed speaks it did feel like officials were preparing the ground for faster pace of taper analysts at maybank said in a note analysts at mizuho bank expect emerging market currencies which gained against the us dollar earlier in the week to come under pressure as the market focuses on the inflation data and news around the omicron coronavirus variant in india the rupee weakened to 7570 per dollar its lowest level since june last year and was set for a third straight weekly loss weighed by the central bank standing pat on its record low interest rates however analysts at australian bank westpac expect the rupee appreciating to 70 per dollar by the end of 2023 citing considerable promise despite a series of shocks in the indian economic and financial outlook regional equities were all in red with the philippines psi malaysia klse indonesia jkse and south korea ks11 declining between 02 and 1 singapore shares sti fell as much as 04 as the citystate reported its first locally transmitted omicron case read more markets in thailand seti were closed for a holiday  malaysias top glove tpgckl warns of weak demand as profit slumps  read more  indias star health choppy in debut after tepid ipo response  read more reporting by sameer manekar in bengaluru editing by jacqueline wong and sriraj kalluvila