*

Trump raises hopes of pause on tariffs on neighbors; peso

gains

*

Brazil adds more formal jobs than forecast in January

*

Ukraine bonds gain after minerals deal with U.S.

*

MSCI Latam FX down 0.5%, stocks down 0.6%

(Updates with mid-session trading)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Feb 26 (Reuters) -

Most Latin American currencies strengthened on Wednesday as

investors hoped for another pause on U.S. tariffs on the

country's neighbors, while a minerals deal between the U.S. and

Ukraine lifted emerging European currencies.

U.S. President Donald Trump raised hopes for

another pause

on new tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports by saying

they would take effect on April 2, about a month later than a

deadline next week.

The Mexican peso was up 0.2% against the dollar.

However, a White House official said the March 4

deadline for tariffs remained in effect "as of this moment,"

pending Trump's review of Mexican and Canadian actions to secure

their borders.

LatAm currencies recouped early declines, that were

logged after Trump ordered a

probe into potential new tariffs on copper imports.

The Peruvian sol led gains with a 0.5% rise,

trading around levels last seen in April, while Chile's peso

was up 0.1%. Colombia's currency was 0.4% higher.

"The delay is perhaps suggesting that there is more

space to negotiation and at the end we will be able to see some

sort of a deal between the U.S., Mexico and Canada," said Andres

Abadia, chief LatAm economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"This is easing the pain in currencies that are closely

linked to the US economy cycle."

The Brazilian real however, plunged 1.2%, on

track for its biggest one day fall since January 10, as the

dollar bounced back from recent declines.

Data showed Brazil's economy created nearly three times

as many

formal jobs

in January as expected, defying recent economic indicators

pointing to a slowdown.

MSCI's index tracking Latin American currencies

was off 0.5%, while an index of stocks

fell 0.6%.

Equity indexes were broadly lower, with ones in Brazil

and Argentina down 0.7% and 0.3% respectively.

Chile's IPSA and Mexico's main index were 0.5%

and 0.4% higher.

Trump also announced a

reversal of concessions

of the "oil transaction agreement" given to Venezuela by

his predecessor Joe Biden more than two years ago.

Elsewhere, markets in emerging Europe rallied after the

Ukrainian government backed a critical minerals deal with the

U.S. at the heart of Kyiv's push to win Trump's support.

Most Ukrainian dollar bonds rallied more than 1 cent, with

the 2029 bond up 1.4 cents to 72.4 cents on

the dollar.

"(The deal) does take some of the big downside risks off the

table, but ... it's just one very small step towards a peace

deal much further down the line," Nick Rees, head of macro

research at Monex.

The rouble however, reversed earlier gains to trade

0.3% lower against the dollar.

Israel's shekel was up 0.5% after Hamas agreed to

free the last hostage bodies included in the initial phase of

the Gaza ceasefire.

HIGHLIGHTS

** Brazil stocks rebound to continue, outlook dented after

recent fall

** IMF team to visit Pakistan next week with $7 bln bailout

review due

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2007

GMT:

MSCI Emerging Markets 1135.32 1.15

MSCI LatAm 2035.7 -0.55

Brazil Bovespa 125134.12 -0.67

Mexico IPC 53252.52 0.38

Chile IPSA 7351.06 0.48

Argentina Merval 2275331.5 -0.33

1

Colombia COLCAP 1647.06 -0.11

Brazil real 5.8095 -1.22

Mexico peso 20.4153 0.24

Chile peso 941.19 0.09

Colombia peso 4102.5 0.35

Peru sol 3.661 0.46

Argentina peso (interbank) 1061 -0.02

Argentina peso (parallel) 1210 2.48