EMERGING MARKETS-Latam currencies on track to end week on strong note

By Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap

June 6 (Reuters) - Latin American assets were poised to cap off a stellar week on Friday after strong U.S. jobs data eased concerns about the world's largest economy despite brewing global trade tensions.

The MSCI's index for Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS soared more than 2% for the week, its best weekly performance in over a month.

U.S. President Donald Trump said three of his cabinet officials will meet with representatives of China in London on June 9 to discuss a trade deal.

In Russia, the central bank executed a surprising interest rate cut, the first since September 2022, citing a cooling economy and decelerating inflation. The move sent the rouble RUB= down 2.1% against the dollar.

The White House's increased tariffs on steel and aluminium imports took effect on Wednesday, in a move that will affect Latin American economies such as Mexico, which are intricately tied to U.S. supply chains.

Mexico's peso MXN= climbed 1.6% for the week and was poised for its best weekly showing in nearly two months.

Dollar weakness has opened the floodgates for "carry trades", channelling heavy flows into higher-yielding emerging market currencies such as the Brazilian real.

The greenback remains in a precarious spot and continues to look vulnerable to bad news on the fiscal and trade policy fronts, said James Reilly, senior economist at Capital Economics.

Brazil's real BRL= surged nearly 3% this week, charting a course for its strongest weekly performance in more than 10 months.

This run solidifies its year-to-date gains at roughly 10% – positioning it as the top performer among its Latam peers.

"If the U.S. is going to be in a situation where there's not going to be a lot of reliability going forward, then you're going to have to go find yield where you can," said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex.

Investors found some relief in a report indicating Brazil's government is expected to back a bill proposing a 10% cut to federal tax breaks, which could allow it to scrap last month's controversial tax hike on financial transactions.

The broader gauge of Latin American equities .MILA00000PUS notched a 1.5% gain this week.

While Chile's annual inflation in May cooled to a six-month low, it remained above target, keeping expectations that the central bank will keep interest rates on hold this month. The peso CLP= slipped 0.5% on the day.

Peru's stock index .SPBLPGPT was primed for its best week in more than eight months, largely propelled by surging copper prices.