EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX, stocks climb as easing bank crisis fears aid risk appetite

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      MSCI's Latam FX index rises for seventh straight day


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      Brazil's Hapvida surges after capital injection



 (Updates prices; adds comments, details)
    By Shreyashi Sanyal and Ankika Biswas
       March 28 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies and
stocks rose on Tuesday as the dollar weakened as easing concerns
around a banking turmoil steered investors back to riskier
assets.
    The MSCI's index for Latam currencies rose
1.2%, gaining for the seventh consecutive session and now on
track for its third straight quarterly rise.
        Investors drew comfort from the fact that no further
cracks have emerged in global banking in recent sessions,
helping offset concerns over the exposure of Latin American
financial institutions to the current banking turmoil.

        "We're approaching levels where we were before the
banking stress... it's going to be a bigger test for whether
this is real demand or just more of a regular market balance
after the volatility episode," said Alejandro Cuadrado, global
head of FX strategy at BBVA.

    Further, resource-rich Latin American assets have benefited
from their high exposure to commodities, prices of which have
risen since the beginning of the year.
    Brazil's real added 0.8%.
    Minutes from Brazil's central bank meeting held last week
showed that worsening inflation expectations justified its
decision to maintain a hawkish stance towards future steps.
    This comes after the central bank held the Selic rate at
13.75%, without presenting a concrete sign of eventual monetary
easing ahead, contrary to expectations in the market and the
government.
    "The concern with the de-anchoring of inflation expectations
prevailed, and these minutes confirm that BCB does not seem
nearly inclined to suggest an imminent easing," said Cassiana
Fernandez, head of Latin America economic research at JP Morgan.
    Chile's peso jumped 1.3%, while Peru's sol
firmed 0.1% as prices of their main export, copper, rose.
    A rise in oil prices lifted currencies of Mexico by
about 0.6%.
    Stocks in the Latin America surged with the
main index jumping 2.2% to a two-week high.
    Brazil stocks gained 1.4%, with healthcare company
Hapvida Participacoes e Investimentos SA surging
17.6%, after on announcing funding measures backed by its
controlling shareholders.
    Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca jumped 3.8%
following fourth quarter 2022 results.
        The rebound in Mexico's second-biggest broadcaster comes
after a sharp selloff last week after the firm's creditors filed
an involuntary petition to place it in U.S. Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection.

    Elsewhere, the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) held its base
rate at 13%, the highest in the European Union, and said it will
need to be kept for a prolonged period.

    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2000 GMT:

     Stock indexes              Latest     Daily %
                                           change
 MSCI Emerging Markets            971.06       0.73

 MSCI LatAm                      2144.91       2.22

 Brazil Bovespa                101078.41       1.41

 Mexico IPC                     53279.10       0.81

 Chile IPSA                      5244.64      -0.26

 Argentina MerVal              242502.80      3.749

 Colombia COLCAP                 1120.82       0.23


        Currencies              Latest     Daily %
                                           change
 Brazil real                      5.1635       0.82

 Mexico peso                     18.2202       0.62

 Chile peso                        796.4       1.26

 Colombia peso                   4680.02      -0.15
 Peru sol                         3.7526       0.13

 Argentina peso (interbank)     207.8200      -0.18

 Argentina peso (parallel)           393      -0.76


 (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Marguerita Choy)