EMERGING MARKETS- FX, stocks set for weekly gains as Fed rate cut hopes persist despite US tariffs

By Sukriti Gupta and Purvi Agarwal

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Most emerging market currencies were subdued on Friday and equities fell, as investors assessed U.S. President Donald Trump's nomination for a vacant seat at the Federal Reserve's governing board and the impact of U.S. import tariffs.

Trump said he will nominate dovish economist Stephen Miran to the Fed board, who has called for an overhaul of the Fed's governance, to replace outgoing Governor Adriana Kugler.

Equities have been capitalising on rising hopes of the Fed delivering interest rate cuts soon after a bleak jobs report last week, and Miran's potential nomination has added to them.

MSCI's global EM equity gauge .MSCIEF was on track for weekly gains, its best since late June, but it fell 0.6% on the day as most regional bourses gave back some gains.

Stocks in Poland .WIG20 and Hungary .BUX were down 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively. South African .JTOPI stocks gained 0.2%, set for their best weekly showing since early April.

"If we've got more Fed cuts being priced in, a weaker dollar, it almost automatically means a better environment for EMEA... the market will be watching every data print and every development on the Fed front," said Marek Drimal, lead CEEMEA strategist at Societe Generale.

Stocks in Romania .BETI, however, advanced 1%, set for their fifth week of gains. The country's central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold in its monetary policy decision, due later in the day.

Meanwhile, some caution lingered over how U.S. tariffs, which came into effect on Thursday, will impact countries that have not yet agreed on a trade deal with the U.S.

Most of the member states of the BRICS group - India, Brazil, South Africa - are among ones facing some of the highest tariff rates. This has pushed them to look for a united response to the sweeping duties.

Market participants now await a potential tariff agreement between U.S. and China, also a part of BRICS, ahead of the August 12 deadline, with failure risking triple-digit duty levels.

"The past several months have shown that setting the tariff rates is not necessarily linked to economic or trade fundamentals... tariffs are a part of politics," said Drimal.

On the currencies side, most in emerging Europe edged lower against the euro, with the Hungarian forint EURHUF= down 0.2%.

Data showed Hungarian headline inflation slowed to an annual 4.3% in July from 4.6% in June, above analysts' forecast.

The Turkish lira TRYTOM=D3 and the South African rand ZAR= were both flat.

MSCI's EM currency index .MIEM00000CUS edged 0.1% lower, but remained on track for a weekly gain.

Fitch Rating is expected to review the Czech Republic's rating on the day.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Moody's warns US tariffs may hurt India's manufacturing push, slow growth

** EM central banks plough on with easing in July as major peers linger

** Polish central banker Kotecki: at least one more rate cut possible this year

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For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see CEE/

For TURKISH market report, see .IS

For RUSSIAN market report, see RU/RUB