(Updated at 0855 GMT)

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Tech leads stocks lower

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EM bond funds see outflows over past week: BofA

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Turkish lira, Indian rupee hit record low vs USD

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Ethiopia's PM defends currency float

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Aug 2 (Reuters) - Emerging markets stocks slumped on

Friday, tracking broader global risk-off sentiment as investors

rushed for safe-haven assets amid worries about a U.S. economic

slowdown.

MSCI's index of emerging market stocks slumped

2.2%, set to clock its worst day in one year if losses hold,

while an index of EM currencies was flat.

An initial boost to risk assets following the Federal

Reserve's meeting on Wednesday quickly gave way to concerns over

global growth, after a weak U.S. ISM manufacturing report that

followed further signs of economic slowdown in China.

"When China coughs, the world can catch a cold ... emerging

markets would be exposed here if risk sentiment were to sour

further," said Harry Mills, director at Oku Markets.

Some currencies in emerging Europe fared slightly better

against a weaker dollar as investors turned to the safe

haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc.

The Czech crown and Hungarian forint

were up about 0.1% against the dollar, while the Polish zloty

jumped 0.4% after falling in the previous session. The

zloty gained 0.3% against the euro.

Both the Turkish lira and Indian rupee

touched record lows against the greenback, while the Russian

rouble slipped about 0.4%.

Focus now shifts to U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for July

later in the day, where forecasts are for employment in the

world's largest economy to increase by 175,000.

"Investor confidence in the growth outlook may breathe a

sigh of relief today should the payrolls number surprise to the

upside, though, it's a fight between investor sentiment and

safety versus bets on Fed rate cuts," Mills said.

Investors also grappled with rising geopolitical tensions,

after the Israeli military said on Thursday that the head of

Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed, a day after

group leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran.

Bourses in Turkey, Prague and Warsaw

slumped between 0.7% and 1.7%, following emerging Asian equities

that were also broadly lower.

Indexes in Taipei and Seoul led declines as

a selloff in U.S. tech stocks and disappointing results from

Intel ( INTC ) weighed on the tech sector.

MSCI's EM stock index was on track to fall for a third

straight week, however, the currency index was set to rise about

0.3% in its best week since mid-May.

EM debt-focused funds saw outflows of $0.2 billion over the

past week, according to data from Bank of America Global

Research, though EM equity funds have seen about $4.5 billion in

inflows over the past nine weeks.

Elsewhere, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed defended the

country's decision to float its birr currency this week,

a move which helped the country secure financing from both the

International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

However, the birr has slumped nearly 40% against the dollar

since then.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Investors scramble to get out of the way of the rising

yen

** Brazil, Mexico and Colombia call for Venezuela to release

full vote tallies

** Ukraine paid $200 mln to holders of GDP warrants,

ministry says

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For TURKISH market report, see

For RUSSIAN market report, see