EMERGING MARKETS-FX, stocks steady ahead of US inflation data; trade progress monitored

By Purvi Agarwal

June 27 (Reuters) - Most emerging market currencies and stocks were higher on Friday, set to round off the week with gains, as investors awaited a U.S. inflation reading and monitored any progress on U.S. tariff deals.

The dollar index =USD slipped 0.2%, trading around levels last seen in February 2022, as investors expect a dovish tilt to the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy stance amid reports of President Donald Trump toying with the idea of replacing the Fed chair early.

The monthly Personal Consumption Expenditure figures - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - will be scrutinized for any clues on whether Trump's tariffs have started to impact the economy.

On the trade front, the U.S. said it had signed a deal with China, without revealing any details, and also reached an agreement to expedite rare earth shipments.

Trump also said that the U.S. had a trade deal coming up with India, while European Union leaders discussed new proposals from the U.S.

Markets are hoping for more deals to come, ahead of the July tariff deadline, so countries can escape Trump's sweeping duties that have threatened to hamper global economic growth.

"It may be that we're in the eye of the storm that was the Middle East, and later to become tariffs again... however, for now markets are not particularly concerned about the upcoming July 9th tariff deadline," Deutsche Bank analysts led by Jim Reid said.

"(But) headlines are starting to bubble up."

Investors have had numerous catalysts to take on riskier assets this week, including a truce between Iran and Israel, chances of a dovish Fed and some easing tariff pressures.

Data from Morgan Stanley showed that EM-dedicated funds saw inflows expand to $13.8 billion in the last four weeks, compared to the four weeks before that.

MSCI's index tracking global EM currencies .MIEM00000CUS and the stocks gauge .MSCIEF were both little changed on the day, yet both indexes were set for their biggest weekly gain since late April.

On the day, a higher euro pressured the Romanian leu EURRON= and the Hungarian forint EURHUF= that fell 0.1% and 0.2% respectively.

Stocks in the region were broadly higher, with those in Romania .BETI and Hungary .BUX up 0.2% and 0.1% respectively, while those in Poland .WIG20 slipped 0.4%.

Turkey's lira TRYTOM=D3 was 0.2% lower, and its stocks .XU100 were slightly down.

In South Africa, the rand ZAR= was 0.3% lower against the dollar, while its stocks .JTOPI also slipped 0.3%.

Asian stocks, measured by MSCI's index tracking Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS, hit more than three-year highs, tracking global risk-on sentiment.

Elsewhere in EMs, S&P and Moody's both downgraded Colombia's debt rating by one notch, citing weaker fiscal performance.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** China's May industrial profits slip back into sharp decline

** Philippines posts $3.3 billion trade deficit in May

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets nTOPEMRG

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/

For TURKISH market report, see .IS

For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB