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Moody's to review Czech Republic ratings

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Romania awaits central bank minutes

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Asian stocks gain, led by Taiwan's TSMC after record

profit

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MSCI EM FX set for second weekly loss

By Ragini Mathur and Purvi Agarwal

July 18 (Reuters) - Most emerging market currencies were

steady on Friday while equities advanced, as optimism over some

economic improvement in the U.S. and positive corporate earnings

outweighed investor concerns over tariffs.

MSCI's global emerging markets stock index was up

0.7% on the day and looked set to close the week with gains.

Heavyweight Asian stocks gained, with those in Taiwan

up over 1% to a more than four-month high. TSMC

, the world's largest contract chipmaker, gained more

than 2% after posting a record quarterly profit on Thursday.

U.S. markets surged to new all-time highs overnight after

key economic indicators, including retail sales and jobless

claims, exceeded expectations, setting a positive tone for EM

stocks.

Regional bourses advanced, with those in Hungary and

Romania up 0.4% each. Polish stocks jumped

2.4%, on track for their biggest weekly rise since late April.

On the trade front, Thailand said it had made more proposals

to the U.S. during talks, raising hopes among investors that

deals can be reached before U.S. President Donald Trump's new

August 1 deadline for imposing tariffs.

Markets were briefly rattled this week by a report that

Trump was going to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell

soon, with the dollar index taking a hit, although it recovered

losses after Trump denied the claims.

After gains on Thursday, the dollar index was down

0.2% on Friday, lifting most EM currencies.

"The dollar had got to a point where it was much more

expensive than usual and that trend changed this year," said

Paul Jackson, global head of asset allocation research at

Invesco EMEA.

"It probably will remain weak for at least the next year and

probably beyond that, partly because it's expensive and partly

because of the policies being put in place by the U.S.

administration."

South Africa's rand climbed 0.9%, while its stocks

jumped 1.1%. The country was set to wrap up the two-day

meeting of finance chiefs from the Group of 20.

Russia's rouble was 0.4% higher against the dollar,

over-the-counter market data showed. The European Union reached

an agreement on an 18th sanctions package against the country in

another blow to its oil and energy industry.

Turkey's lira was 0.3% lower, while its stocks

fell 0.2%.

Emerging European currencies were largely flat against a

higher euro.

MSCI's emerging markets currency gauge was

little changed on the day, but was on track for its second

consecutive weekly decline - its first back-to-back weekly loss

since early April.

Meanwhile, Moody's is set to review its ratings on the Czech

Republic, while Romania awaits minutes from its central bank's

latest meeting.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Ghana's central bank will discuss key rate in 10 days,

governor says

** Vietnam outlines new financial reforms in bid for

emerging market status

** Malaysia's June exports record surprise year on year fall

of 3.5%

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see

For TURKISH market report, see

For RUSSIAN market report, see