* MSCI global EM stocks slip 1.8%, FX up 0.2%

* South Korea's KOSPI slumps, triggers circuit-breakers

* Inflation slows down in Czech Republic, Hungary

By Utkarsh Hathi

July 7 (Reuters) - Most emerging market stocks fell on

Tuesday, driven by a tech-led selloff in Asia as investors

reassessed lofty valuations of AI-related stocks, while

currencies remained little changed.

The MSCI global EM equities index slipped 1.8%,

with declines largely driven by tech-heavy bourses in South

Korea and Taiwan.

South Korea's KOSPI dropped as much as 5%, triggering

circuit breakers, and was last down 4.9%, dragged down by a 6.9%

slump in Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ), even after the world's

largest memory chipmaker reporting a 19-fold jump in

second-quarter operating profit.

Worries over stretched valuation of AI-focused companies and

inflation driven by surging memory costs have resurfaced,

triggering a sell-off in chip-linked stocks globally, with

futures linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq in the U.S. down 1%.

Optimism over the technology had led to an over 23% jump in

the global EM stocks index last quarter, marking its biggest

three-month jump since 2009.

Taiwanese stocks and Hong Kong equities

slipped 2.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

"Obviously, it's (the tech selloff) setting the tone for the

global sentiment... whenever we have this risk-off kind of mood,

which is flipping now every day, we also have a stronger US

dollar, which is affecting all the EM currencies," said

Frantisek Taborsky, EMEA FX and fixed income strategist at ING.

The sell-off spread to emerging Europe as well, with Polish

stocks down 0.9% and Hungarian stocks 0.8%

lower. Romanian equities added 0.1%.

Equities in South Africa shed 0.4%, tracking a fall

in gold prices, among the biggest exports from the resource-rich

country.

Meanwhile, limited progress on U.S.-Iran peace talks

unnerved traders about oil supply concerns, sending crude prices

1.4% higher. Still, they remained around levels seen before the

war, keeping inflation worries contained.

Inflation in the Czech Republic eased more than expected in

June, falling below the central bank's target. But it delivered

its first rate hike in four years last month on fears of the

lingering effects of the oil shock on the economy.

On the currencies front, the dollar index continued

to recoup some lost ground with a 0.07% increase.

South Africa's rand lost 0.33%, while Turkey's lira

was little changed.

Most currencies in emerging Europe were subdued against the

euro, but Hungary's forint weakened 0.41%, after

inflation in the country eased in June.

The broader MSCI emerging market currency index

edged 0.19% higher.

The Russia-Ukraine war also was in focus, after U.S. President

Donald Trump said on Monday that the resolution to the conflict

is "getting closer than people realize" and that he will talk

about Ukraine during talks in Turkey this week at the NATO

summit.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** NATO allies to discuss Hormuz tensions, mission with Gulf

Arabs

** Beijing bolsters Hong Kong bond, gold trading in global yuan

push

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