EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks, FX stumble as investors mull tariff outlook; Ukraine, Pakistan in focus

By Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian

April 24 (Reuters) - The relief rally in emerging market assets hit a roadblock on Thursday as investors navigated through mixed signals from the White House, and kept a close eye on developments in Ukraine and Pakistan.

The broad measure of emerging stocks .MSCIEF lost 0.5%, snapping a five-straight winning streak, while a currencies gauge slipped 0.1%.

Stocks across Asia .MIMS00000PUS saw the steepest declines, while those in central and eastern europe .MIME00000PUS lost 0.8%.

Sentiment globally had improved since U.S. President Donald Trump paused some of the tariffs he imposed on world economies earlier in the month. On Wednesday, the mood further improved following reports that the Trump administration might consider reducing tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

However, both sides have made clear their unwillingness to make the first move towards negotiations, keeping investors cautious.

On the radar are Washington's negotiations with countries such as Japan, Vietnam, South Korea at a time when Beijing is looking to bolster already close ties in Southeast Asia and other countries including Kenya.

Chinese stocks .SSEC, .CSI300 closed flat as did the yuan CNY=.

In South Asia, Pakistan's dollar-denominated government bonds US695847AB92=TE, USY8793YAL66=TE, US695847AU73=TE, XS2322319638=TE lost more than 3 cents each, according to Tradeweb data, as tensions escalated with neighbouring India following a deadly attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir.

Islamabad's local stock exchange .KSE lost 1.5%, while Indian stocks .NSEI, .BSESN dropped 0.3% each.

Gunmen killed 26 people in the attack on Tuesday, prompting India to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, a move Pakistan called an act of "water warfare".

"Pakistan is much more reliant on external capital flows and (and) in this specific case, is more vulnerable to diversion of upstream water resource, given its greater water scarcity," said Hasnain Malik, emerging and frontier markets strategist at Tellimer, based in Dubai.

Ukrainian fixed income securities linked to economic growth XS1303929894=TE lost more than 2 cents after the government failed to reach a deal to restructure the debt, although it did say it intended to continue talking with bond holders.

A quick end to Russia's war in Ukraine looks no closer and at least eight people were killed and more than 70 injured in Kyiv after Moscow launched its biggest attack on the capital this year. The U.S. has warned that it could abandon its efforts to broker a ceasefire.

South Africa's rand ZAR= firmed as much as 0.5% after the government abandoned plans to increase value-added tax from May 1, after the proposed hike threatened to break the fragile coalition. The currency was last flat.

Stocks .JTOPI were little changed and the yield on the benchmark bond ZAR2030= was marginally lower.

In central and Eastern Europe, the Polish zloty EURPLN= eased by 0.2% after a report indicated the Monetary Policy Council (MPC) might cut interest rates by 50 basis points in May.

In Turkey, the lira TRYTOM=D3 was flat following the central bank's assertion of a proactive monetary policy stance and that re-dollarisation risks were contained.