EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm stocks stumble on commodity dip; U.S. cues weigh

By Niket Nishant and Pranav Kashyap

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Latin American equities slid on Monday, lagging emerging-market peers as a retreat in gold prices weighed on export-heavy bourses across the region.

The drop came alongside a softer tone on Wall Street, where major indexes edged lower as investors grew more cautious after last week's rally.

Even so, in a holiday-shortened week, the one-day wobble is unlikely to derail regional stocks' strongest year since 2009, while underscoring how tightly sentiment is still linked to commodity demand and U.S. cues.

The MSCI index tracking Latin American stocks .MILA00000PUS fell 1.1%, while the currency gauge .MILA00000CUS dropped 0.6%.

Elsewhere in emerging markets, Asian stocks rallied on Monday.

GOLD RETREAT DAMPENS OPTIMISM

Peruvian stocks .MXNUAMPESCPGPE skidded 1.6%, easing back from a record high and heading for its sharpest one-day drop in nearly a month, as a pullback in gold, one of the country's key exports, dragged on sentiment.

"While this rally in gold has not, and will not, be linear, we believe the trends driving this rebasing higher in gold prices are not exhausted," said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities strategy at J.P. Morgan.

Equity benchmarks in Brazil .BVSP and Mexico .MXX, other regional heavyweights, fell 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.

Argentina's Merval stock benchmark .MERV gave up earlier gains to slip 0.2%.

CURRENCIES SUBDUED

Regional currencies also fell, with Brazil's real BRL= dropping 0.6% and has lost nearly 4.4% so far this month due to expectations that the central bank may begin lowering interest rates.

Earlier this month, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he "could smell" reductions coming soon.

The Chilean peso CLP= slid 1.1%, on track for its steepest one-day fall in more than a month and sinking to a two-week low, while Colombia's peso COP= lost 1.2%, poised to snap a seven-session winning streak that had been its longest in over four months.

In Honduras, investors are closely tracking the aftermath of Nasry Asfura's victory in the presidential election. Backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, Asfura was declared the winner after weeks of technical problems and allegations of fraud.

The country's dollar-denominated bonds were mixed.

Elsewhere, Ukraine's government bonds surged as investors latched onto more upbeat signals from talks aimed at ending the war with Russia, pushing some notes to their highest levels since Ukraine emerged from last year's $20 billion sovereign debt restructuring.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: