*

Hungary April policy meeting minutes awaited

*

Stocks up 0.1%, FX flat

By Shashwat Chauhan

May 7 (Reuters) - A gauge of emerging market stocks

approached two-year highs on Tuesday as global stocks rallied

amid renewed hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve could cut

interest rates some time this year.

By 0415 GMT, MSCI's gauge for emerging market stocks

gained 0.1%, its highest since June 2022, while a

gauge of currencies held steady at 1,727.38

points.

Bourses in South Africa, Turkey, Hungary

and Romania rose between 0.1% - 0.3%.

Risk sentiment flourished after a softer-than-anticipated

U.S. jobs report and a dovish tilt by the Fed in its last policy

meeting rebuffed concerns around a possible rate hike by the

U.S. central bank and kindled policy easing hopes.

"It looks like Friday's slightly softer US jobs report has

been enough to put paid to any ideas of a Fed hike this year,"

Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING wrote in a note.

"And Fed officials have also been keen to dampen speculation

over a possible hike."

Poland's zloty shed 0.4% against the euro ahead of

a central bank rate decision later in the week, while the Czech

crown lost 0.2%.

Hungary's forint slipped 0.2% against the euro, on

track to snap a four-day winning streak ahead of the release of

minutes from its central bank's last policy meeting where it cut

its lending rate by 50 basis points.

South Africa's rand edged 0.1% lower against the

dollar, while Russia's rouble strengthened 0.3%

against the dollar.

In Asia, shares in South Korea touched over

three-week highs, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.5%,

its first daily decline in 11 sessions.

Looking ahead, rate decisions in Mexico, Malaysia and Brazil

are some key events across emerging markets this week.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** S&P raises Turkey's rating to 'B+' On Economic

Rebalancing

** Hungary's retail sales rise 4.2% in annual terms in March

- stats

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