Mercados Emergentes – Acciones latinoamericanas extienden ganancias; Real brasileño sube tras subida de tipos de interés

    * Rouble volatile as traders eye war, coupon payments
    * Brazil cuts 2022 growth forecast, hikes inflation outlook
    * Argentina Senate to debate $45 billion IMF deal

 (Adds comment; updates details)
    By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Anisha Sircar
    March 17 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks edged higher on
Thursday as risk appetite ticked up on easing fears around
China's spluttering economy, while Brazil's real extended gains
a day after the country's central bank hiked interest rates.
    MSCI's Latin American stocks index gained
2.9%, joining broader emerging market peers, as China,
a key trade partner with Latin America, signaled more stimulus.

    Brazil's real gained 0.8% against the dollar, a day
after the Brazilian central bank increased its key interest rate
by 100 basis points and hinted at another hike of the same
magnitude in May.
    "The aggressive hiking cycle will have an impact on growth
and you're going into an election year, so you may see populist
policies coming in. And if there is something that Brazil cannot
afford, it is more aggressive fiscal spending," said Jakob
Christensen, chief analyst and head of emerging market research
at Danske Bank. 
    Brazil's economy ministry trimmed its 2022 gross domestic
product growth forecast and raised its inflation outlook, as
Latin America's largest economy grapples with higher food and
fuel prices and higher borrowing costs. 
    Argentina's battered peso dipped 0.1% ahead of a
debate in its Senate over a $45 billion debt deal with the
International Monetary Fund that, if allowed to proceed, would
help the country avoid a messy default.
    "The market is being quite realistic at understanding that
this program is IMF buying time until the next presidential
election at the end of 2023," said Marcos Casarin, chief Latin
America economist at Oxford Economics.
    "Argentina has a very strong bargaining power with the IMF
because it knows that half of the IMF balance sheet is with
Argentina's debt and so it has negotiated pretty much
non-existent fiscal rules."
    The Mexican and Colombian pesos rose 0.6% and
0.3%, respectively, while the Chilean peso fell 0.2%. 
    Elsewhere, Turkey's lira dropped 0.4% after its
central bank held the key interest rate steady.
    The Russian rouble rose in Moscow, while two market
sources told Reuters some creditors have received payment, in
dollars, of Russian bond coupons which fell due this week.

    Russia laid down strict new rules for foreigners seeking
permits to buy and sell Russian assets ranging from securities
to real estate, a client memo by Citigroup
showed.
    After a sharp emergency rate hike in late February, Russia's
central bank is expected to hold its key interest rate unchanged
at 20% on Friday.    

    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2012 GMT:
    
      Stock indexes               Latest      Daily %
                                              change
 MSCI Emerging Markets              1122.00       3.79
                                             
 MSCI LatAm                         2443.95          3
                                             
 Brazil Bovespa                   112978.49       1.68
 Mexico IPC                        54243.45       1.56
 Chile IPSA                         4790.24       2.02
                                             
 Argentina MerVal                  89449.12      2.285
                                             
 Colombia IGBC                      1542.46       0.94 Currencies               Latest      Daily %
                                              change
 Brazil real                         5.0330       1.15
                                             
 Mexico peso                        20.5070       0.61
                                             
 Chile peso                           799.4      -0.29
                                             
 Colombia peso                      3821.01       0.26
 Peru sol                              3.75      -0.83
                                             
 Argentina peso (interbank)        109.5100      -0.08
                                             
 Argentina peso (parallel)              199       1.51
                                             
 

 (Reporting by Anisha Sircar, Susan Mathew, Bansari Mayur Kamdar
and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis and
Paul Simao)