dec 9 reuters  most emerging markets rose on thursday as positive data from vaccine makers tempered fears surrounding the omicron variant with chinese stocks gaining after sluggish factory inflation raised the prospect of further monetary stimulus mscis index for emerging market stocks mscief rose 08 while currencies miem00000cus inched 01 higher on track to gain for a third consecutive session sentiment was boosted after biontech and pfizer pfen said on wednesday that a threeshot course of their covid19 vaccine was able to neutralise the omicron variant in a laboratory test read more chinas yuan hovered around a more than 312year high against the dollar while stocks jumped for a third session as slowing factorygate inflation added to expectations that policymakers would act further to boost economic growth read more focus was also on potential debt defaults in the chinas property market after a report said kaisa group 1638hk had started work on restructuring its offshore debt worth 12 billion read more according to a media report chinas no2 property developer china evergrande 3333hk has defaulted for the first time on its dollar debt payments the market has been watching whether the realestate giant which is grappling with more than 300 billion in liabilities and is at risk of becoming chinas biggest ever default can pay 825 million coupons with a 30day grace period coming to an end the chinese central bank had cut bank reserve requirements earlier this week as it sought to shore up economic growth the move had boosted emerging markets as well as commodity prices we see two major themes guiding markets currently risk and central banks on the risk side the focus remains on the omicron variants impact on global growth expectations supply chains and bad inflation analysts at td securities wrote in a note in central europe polands zloty weakened 01 after the central banks rate hike on wednesday fell short of some expectations for a large raise as inflation touched 20year highs the turkish lira weakened 05 at 1375 against the dollar and was the worst performer among its emerging market peers president tayyip erdogan said on wednesday turks should be patient and trust his governments new economic model under which he has prioritised economic growth driven by low interest rates read more despite the positive vaccine news investors remained wary of any further restrictions in response to the omicron variant upcoming us inflation data on friday also brewed fears that a strong reading could accelerate the federal reserves plan for raising interest rates the south african rand was flat as investors maintained a cautious stance ahead of a raft of key economic data releases that include current account mining and manufacturing figures a robust current account driven by strong commodity exports has benefited the rand this year despite covid19 and political headwinds for graphic on emerging market fx performance in 2021 see httptmsnrtrs2egbfvh for graphic on msci emerging index performance in 2021 see httpstmsnrtrs2ousndx reporting by shashank nayar in bengaluru editing by sherry jacobphillips