*

Rate decisions from Fed, BOJ, BoE due this week

*

Equity markets recover from tech rout

*

Lebanon braces for Israeli retaliation

*

Indian stocks briefly touch record highs

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

July 29 (Reuters) - Emerging market stocks gained on

Monday, while major currencies slipped against a stronger dollar

as investors looked ahead to a week packed with key central bank

policy decisions and assessed a potentially escalating conflict

at the Israel-Lebanon border.

MSCI's index of emerging markets (EM) stocks

jumped 0.6%, tracking global stocks higher as equities recovered

from a Wall Street led sell-off last week.

Meanwhile, the likelihood of widening conflict in the Middle

East also weighed on sentiment, after the U.S. and Israel blamed

a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on the

Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Oil rose, while the shekel dropped to a more than

three-week low against the dollar.

EM currencies broadly slipped against a strong dollar

, with the Polish zloty and Hungarian forint

down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. MSCI's broader gauge of EM

currencies was little changed on the day.

Rate decisions are due this week from a number of major

central banks, with emerging market investors particularly

focusing on the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

The Fed is widely expected to keep rates on hold at its

meeting this week, with all focus on whether policymakers signal

they could start easing policy in September, while the BOJ will

be watched for a potential rate hike and any further changes to

its bond-buying programme.

"Should the BoJ tighten monetary policy further, the yen

would benefit from that and the selling pressure on high

yielding EM currencies could resurface or intensify," said Piotr

Matys, senior FX analyst at InTouch Capital Markets.

"That said, the Fed may provide some relief if the overall

message is relatively dovish (or) far less hawkish, cementing

market expectations for a September rate cut."

Meanwhile, the Czech crown edged 0.2% lower against

the euro ahead of a central bank policy decision later this

week.

"The consensus expectation is for the CNB to slow down the

pace of easing at this week's meeting by lowering the policy

rate by 25 basis points, yet another 50 bps move cannot be

completely excluded," Matys said.

Emerging market stocks had clocked their second week of

declines on Friday, losing more than 1.5%, as a move out of

expensive U.S. technology megacaps sparked global equity

declines. Wall Street indexes recovered some ground on Friday.

Wall Street's recovery, combined with hopes for easing

policy in the U.S., helped Asian stocks ex-Japan rise

, though China's Shanghai Composite index

closed flat ahead of a key Politburo meeting this week.

Saudi Arabian stocks edged 0.1% lower, while

Turkey's BIST 100 fell 0.5%.

Elsewhere, Indian stocks briefly touched

record highs, led by banking and energy stocks, and were last

flat on the day.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia's birr slumped 30% against the dollar

after the central bank floated the currency.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Government, opposition both claim Venezuela election win,

official results questioned

** China's manufacturing activity seen extending decline,

Taiwan growth seen slowing

** India's Ola Electric to launch $734 mln IPO, investors

eye bids at lower valuation

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see

For TURKISH market report, see

For RUSSIAN market report, see