March 14 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies came

under pressure on Thursday as hotter-than-expected U.S.

inflation data kept the dollar supported.

The dollar index, which gauges the currency against

six major peers, rose 0.4% after data showed U.S. producer

prices increased more than expected in February, raising

concerns that inflation was picking up again.

The Brazilian real slipped to trade at 4.98 per

dollar even as data showed Brazil's retail sales volume grew

2.5% in January from the previous month, the biggest increase in

a year and well above analysts' estimates.

The Mexican peso, the Colombian peso and the

Chilean peso fell marginally.

"Core PPI advanced 0.3% from the previous month, suggesting

that inflation remains elevated and will continue to complicate

the Federal Reserve's rate cutting plans," said Jack Ablin,

chief investment officer at Cresset Capital.

However, traders stuck to bets of a June start to U.S.

interest-rate cuts. Fed policymakers, meeting next week, are

looking for data that gives them more confidence inflation is on

a path to their 2% goal, allowing them to start reducing the

policy rate.

Following a strong 2023, Latin American markets have

struggled to make headway this year as investors grapple with

uncertainty around when U.S. interest would start falling, which

in turn would weaken the dollar and boost local currencies.

The monetary policy committee of Brazil's central bank will

meet next week to set its benchmark interest rate, which

currently stands at 11.25%, after the authority kicked off its

easing cycle in August.

Stock markets in the region were mixed on Thursday, with

Brazil's Bovespa nearly flat.

Brazil's Eletrobras rose 2% after the energy

company posted fourth-quarter net profit of 893 million reais

($180 million), rebounding from a loss a year earlier but

missing analysts' expectations.

Embraer ( ERJ ) gained nearly 7% after Morgan Stanley

added the Brazilian planemaker to its top pick list, expecting

it to benefit from orders in an environment where aircraft

demand tops supply.

Suriname and China have come to a "good agreement" to rework

$483 million in debt and the countries will ink the deal when

Suriname's president visits Beijing in April, the South American

country's foreign minister Albert Ramdin said on Wednesday.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

Latest Daily %

change

MSCI Emerging Markets 1047.54 0.1

MSCI LatAm 2524.13 0.16

Brazil Bovespa 128024.13 0.01

Mexico IPC 56245.87 0.71

Chile IPSA 6488.47 -0.04

Argentina MerVal 1054158.98 0.33

Colombia COLCAP 1281.93 -0.17

Currencies Latest Daily %

change

Brazil real 4.9780 -0.08

Mexico peso 16.7040 -0.27

Chile peso 946.3 -0.10

Colombia peso 3904.28 -0.08

Peru sol 3.6732 -0.31

Argentina peso (interbank) 850.0000 0.00