EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX clocks best week in nearly two months, Brazil leads

       * MSCI Latam stocks ~6%, FX 3.6% stronger on the week
    * Colombian leftist Petro holds lead in presidential race -
poll
    * Rouble hits seven-year high vs euro on capital controls

 (Adds analyst comments, market details, updates prices)
    By Anisha Sircar and Shreyashi Sanyal
    May 20 (Reuters) - A gauge for Latin American currencies
logged its biggest weekly gain in about two months on Friday,
with Brazil's real at the helm after a bruising week for the
dollar, while stocks across the region hit three-week highs on
news of stimulus in China.
    The MSCI's index for Latin American FX
jumped 3.6% for the week, its first weekly rise in five weeks
and best performance since late March as the greenback lost some
shine through the week following a month-long rally.
    The MSCI's index of Latam stocks rose 5.7%
this week.
    Brazil's real firmed to 4.8 to the dollar,
registering weekly gains of 3.7% supported by a steady rise in
commodity prices as well as talk of more monetary policy
tightening.
    Buoying most currencies and stocks in the region was news
that China lowered the five-year loan prime rate
by 15 basis points to 4.45%, while its securities regulator
announced measures to support virus-hit sectors via capital
markets, easing some fears around the impact of lockdowns and an
economic slowdown.
    "The fact that China is stepping up is a major boost for any
Latin American country because their economies are going to be
based off of the idea that the globalised system is revised,"
said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex.
    Emerging markets, especially those in resource-rich Latin
America, are heavily dependent on China for its demand for raw
materials, industrial metals and other commodities.
    Colombia's peso jumped 1.6%, clocking its best week
in over 17 months.
    Leftist presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, a former
guerrilla, held a big lead ahead of the country's May 29 vote, a
poll showed, though support for center-right rival Federico
Gutierrez ticked up.
    Mexico's peso and Chile's peso added weekly
gains of 1% and 2.7%, respectively.
    Chile's currency has risen nearly 3% since the country's
central bank hiked interest rates by 125 points to 8.25% earlier
this month. The country is also amidst a political upheaval that
has resulted in the drafting of a brand new
constitution
    "Some of the doubts over Chile's political system have eased
after the Constitutional Convention completed a draft of the new
charter," said William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist
at Capital Economics.
    "But political risks remain high for now, which may keep the
Chilean peso on the back foot in the coming months."
    Elsewhere, Russia's rouble hit a seven-year high against the
euro, which analysts attribute to EU countries
preparing to pay Russia for gas and capital controls imposed by
Moscow.
    Meanwhile, Turkey's central bank is likely to hold its
policy rate at 14% next week despite an expected further rise in
inflation after it hit 70% last month, a Reuters poll showed.



    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1946 GMT:
           Stock indexes                     Latest    Daily %
                                                        change
 MSCI Emerging Markets                        1033.62      1.85
 MSCI LatAm                                   2376.34      2.24
 Brazil Bovespa                             108093.13      1.02
 Mexico IPC                                  51422.35      0.26
 Chile IPSA                                   4997.91      0.32
 Argentina MerVal                            87641.40     -1.12
 Colombia COLCAP                              1449.02      2.69

               Currencies                    Latest    Daily %
                                                        change
 Brazil real                                   4.8647      1.10
 Mexico peso                                  19.8552      0.34
 Chile peso                                     836.9      0.00
 Colombia peso                                3964.95      2.09
 Peru sol                                       3.728      0.16
 Argentina peso (interbank)                  118.4800     -0.11

 Argentina peso (parallel)                        201      2.49



 (Reporting by Anisha Sircar, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shreyashi
Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Matthew
Lewis)