EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX come off multi-year highs as dollar firms

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      EM governments sell record $44 bln of bonds in Jan


        *
      Brazil c.bank eyes high rates for longer


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      Latam currencies up 0.6%, stocks down 1.2%



 (Updates prices, adds comment)
    By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amruta Khandekar
       Feb 2 (Reuters) -
    Currencies in Latin America came off session highs on
Thursday but held on to some gains, with the Brazilian real up
after its central bank said overnight it was considering holding
interest rates at a six-year high for longer than market
expectations.

        MSCI's Latin American currencies index
was up 0.6% by 1934 GMT, coming off its highest level since
April 2018 touched earlier in the session as the dollar gained
ground while the euro and the sterling
dipped.

        The dollar index had fallen to a nine-month low
on Wednesday after investors
    took dovish cues
     from remarks by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
while hawkish commentary from the European Central Bank (ECB) on
Thursday failed to quell investor optimism about the global rate
hiking cycle being close to an end.

        "A return to monetary policy normalization seems to be
the consensus from most central banks and while that means the
Fed won't get in the way of borrowing anymore, other currencies
boosted by their respective central bank's hawkishness are
naturally fading with the change of heart towards more of an
accommodative environment," said Juan Perez, director of trading
at Monex USA.

        "We think Latam can start sliding as quick as it climbed
in January based on the lack of steady outlooks and turmoil when
it comes to political stability."

    The real also came off session highs but was
still up 0.5%. The currency of Latin America's largest economy
had hit its highest since June earlier in the session.
    "It's a reaction to the Fed slowing the pace of tightening
and the relatively hawkish central bank meeting in Brazil
yesterday, in which the policymakers suggested that monetary
policy will stay tight for a while yet," said Kimberley
Sperrfechter, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.
    Brazil's bank's rate-setting committee left its Selic
benchmark interest rate at 13.75% in Wednesday's policy
decision, as expected.
    Oil exporter Mexico's peso fell 0.5% while Colombia's
peso was last up 0.3%.
    Chile's peso added 0.8%, while the Peruvian sol
 gained 0.5% against the dollar.
    A roaring start to the year for debt issuance has also
helped lift sovereign emerging market bond sales to a record $44
billion peak in January with investors keen to deploy piles of
cash.
    Elsewhere in emerging markets, the Czech National Bank (CNB)
left interest rates unchanged at a more than two-decade high, as
the economy tipped into a mild recession amid persistent
double-digit inflation.
    India's Adani Group's market losses swelled to more than
$100 billion, sparking worries about their potential systemic
impact.
    Latam stocks reversed early gains to fall
1.2%, bogged down by a drop in shares of Brazil and
Mexico.
    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1934 GMT:
   Stock indexes            Latest       Daily % change
 MSCI Emerging Markets       1044.32                   0.15

 MSCI LatAm                  2300.59                  -1.24

 Brazil Bovespa            110693.75                  -1.23

 Mexico IPC                 54130.68                  -1.61

 Chile IPSA                  5310.54                   0.04

 Argentina MerVal          249385.34                 -0.668

 Colombia COLCAP             1255.65                  -1.01


       Currencies           Latest       Daily % change
 Brazil real                  5.0391                   0.46

 Mexico peso                 18.6994                  -0.53

 Chile peso                    778.9                   0.78

 Colombia peso                  4586                   0.26
 Peru sol                     3.8208                   0.51

 Argentina peso             187.5700                  -0.15
 (interbank)

 Argentina peso                  374                   0.80
 (parallel)

 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amruta Khandekar in
Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Marguerita Choy)