(Updated at 1000 GMT)

*

Global cyber outage grounds flights, hits banks, telecoms,

media

*

Neutral rate to not determine policy in India, says c.bank

chief

*

Ukraine govt proposes first wartime tax hikes to fund

defence

*

Nigeria central bank sells forex to support currency

*

Stocks off 1.6%, FX slip 0.3%

By Johann M Cherian

July 19 (Reuters) - In a grim end to the week, an index

tracking bourses in emerging markets pulled back to a two-week

low on Friday, while investors grappled with a global tech

outage, uncertainty around U.S. elections and a limping Chinese

economy.

MSCI's index tracking emerging markets equities

eased 1.6% to a two-week low on Friday, after hitting a two-year

high.

The index was on track for its sixth straight session in

losses and was set for a weekly drop of over 3%, its biggest

weekly loss in nearly two months.

Most of the losses were driven by a sell-off in tech-heavy

indexes in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea

. A cloudy outlook about the upcoming U.S. elections and

the lack of enthusiasm around China's policy pledges at the end

of the 'Third Plenum' also stoked risk aversion.

"There's a bit of a pullback because it has been a long run

so far this year and there is some uncertainty about U.S.

elections which depends on if Donald Trump will come back as

president again and his policies could lead to some resistance,"

said Ruchir Desai, fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital.

Desai said if tariffs against China were to increase under a

second Trump presidency some Asian economies, including Vietnam,

Bangladesh Cambodia and Sri Lanka, could be net beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, the pullback extended to south Asia, where

India's main indexes dropped 1% and 0.9%,

respectively, as focus was on an upcoming federal budget, with

economic analysts anticipating steps to boost jobs and incomes.

Separately, the local central bank's governor said real and

neutral rates cannot be determinants of monetary policy, a day

after the regulator pegged a higher natural interest rate.

South Africa's rand weakened 0.4% and the main stock

index dropped 0.8%. Late on Thursday, President Cyril

Ramaphosa pledged to revive the flagging economy by

resuscitating factories and farms, building roads and seizing

the opportunities presented by green energy.

A global tech outage disrupted operations in multiple

industries, with airlines halting flights, some broadcasters

going off the air and everything from banking to healthcare

taking a hit.

An index tracking eastern and central European equities

lost 1.3%, while Turkish and Israeli

stocks shed 0.1% and 0.8% respectively.

Ukraine's hryvnia firmed 0.6% against the dollar,

though hovering near record lows. The government proposed its

first wartime hike in taxes to fund its conflict with Russia.

Nigeria's naira weakened 0.8% against the euro, while

yield on 2-year sovereign bonds inched up 11 basis

points (bps).

The local central bank sold the dollar on Thursday to prop

up the naira, saying that distortions in the retail market was

feeding into parallel markets and widening the country's

exchange rate premium.