* Emerging market assets rise on hopes for US-Iran

negotiations, oil prices slip below $90

* Citi downgrades EM equities, but BlackRock turns

overweight citing strong earnings

* IMF, World Bank meetings in focus amid inflaiton,

growth worries

* China's exports slow, Romania inflation hits highest

since mid-2023

* Singapore tightens policy band, Poland signals no rate

cuts

By Johann M Cherian

April 14 (Reuters) - Stocks and currencies across

emerging markets rose on Tuesday, buoyed by signs that

Washington and Tehran were open to negotiating an end to the

conflict, a day after the U.S. military began a blockade of

Iranian ports.

Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to

Islamabad this week, four sources told Reuters, days after the

highest-level talks between the two countries ended in Pakistan

without a breakthrough.

The report reinforced hopes for a resolution after U.S. and

Pakistani officials had said earlier that efforts were being

made to resolve the conflict. Prices of crude oil, a key

resource for developing economies, slipped below $90 a barrel.

"Whether the U.S. can effectively blockade the Strait of

Hormuz remains to be seen, but the move is likely to exert

pressure on Iran given the Islamic Republic's reliance on oil

exports for its economy," a group of analysts at UBS said in a

note.

Reflecting investor appetite for riskier assets, MSCI's

index tracking emerging market equities rose 1.9% to an

over one-month high, while an index tracking regional currencies

climbed 0.5% as the dollar slipped.

Global markets have been riding the ebb and flow of

developments in the Middle East for more than a month as

investors assessed the long-term implications of the conflict on

the global economy.

Brokerages, meanwhile, have offered mixed recommendations on

emerging markets.

Citigroup downgraded emerging market equities to "neutral",

flagging energy vulnerability; however, BlackRock Investment

Institute turned overweight on EM stocks, citing strong

earnings.

IMF, WORLD BANK MEETINGS IN SPOTLIGHT

Commentary and forecasts from policymakers and finance

officials at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

spring meetings will be scrutinized throughout this week.

The fund's World Economic Outlook, due later in the day,

will offer insights into how the global economy could fare amid

prolonged geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions.

Latest data and policy actions across developing markets

have reflected that higher costs are holding back demand.

China's export engine slowed sharply in March as the conflict

triggered shocks to energy and transportation costs, hurting

global demand, while in , annual inflation rose in March to its

highest level since mid-2023.

Beijing's offshore yuan was steady at a more than

three-year high, while stocks gained 1% on

de-escalation hopes. Romania's leu was flat and stocks

edged up 0.8%.

Policymakers across countries were also exercising caution

over interest rates and exploring policies to offset persistent

higher costs.

The Singaporean central bank said it would slightly increase the

rate of appreciation of the S$NEER policy band, while Poland's

Ludwik Kotecki said it sees no room for rate cuts this year,

according to a report.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned of the

conflict, and the Philippines said it was seeking an extension

of a U.S. to buy Russian oil and petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the founder of China Evergrande Group,

the poster child for the country's property woes, guilty to

charges of fraud, following which shares jumped jumped 5.2% to a

more than one-month high.

Hungarian stocks slipped 0.2% in choppy trading,

trimming some of Monday's 5% surge, which was its largest since

2022, after long-time Prime Minister Viktor Orban's defeat in

general held over the weekend.