* Central banks intervene as EM currencies weaken,

inflation and debt risks rise

* Mozambique debt downgraded by Fitch, IMF to discuss new

loan in June

* S&P Global Ratings warns African sovereign credit risks

likely to worsen

* US imposes preliminary anti-dumping duties on solar

imports from India, Indonesia, Laos

By Johann M Cherian

April 24 (Reuters) - Most emerging markets stocks and

currencies were on track for weekly losses on Friday as

uncertainty around a lasting end to the U.S.-Iran conflict kept

crude prices higher and turned investors averse to riskier

assets.

Global markets see-sawed for much of the week as investors

reacted to headlines that raised hopes of an imminent end to the

conflict, even as developments in the Middle East offered little

cause for optimism.

MSCI's index tracking emerging market stocks edged

up 0.6% on Friday and was set for small weekly gains as

tech-heavy Asian stocks in Korea and Taiwan did

much of the heavy lifting on artificial intelligence optimism

and strong results from SK Hynix.

However, indexes tracking bourses in the ASEAN region

, emerging Europe and Latin

America were headed for weekly declines.

A broader EM currencies index dipped 0.1%

and was set for weekly losses as investors flocked to the

safe-haven dollar.

Currencies such as Indonesia's rupiah and India's

rupee hovered near record lows, prompting defensive

actions by their respective central banks earlier this week.

Meanwhile, hawkish monetary policy decisions by central banks in

Turkey and the Philippines, stemming from inflation concerns,

did little to stall the slide in the peso and the lira

.

"An inflation shock seems unavoidable now, and the key

question is the intensity and duration," Bas van Geffen, senior

macro strategist at Rabobank, said in a note.

"The longer the conflict in the Middle East remains

unresolved, the bigger the stagflationary impact will be."

SLOW DOWN WORRIES LOOM

Further greenback strength and higher crude prices,

denominated in dollars, are likely to pressure developing

economies' fiscal and current account balances, with a majority

of the countries also having to face elevated costs when

servicing their hard-currency debt.

S&P Global Ratings warned that the risks to African

sovereign credit scores were likely to worsen, with Egypt,

Mozambique and Rwanda among the "most exposed".

Fitch downgraded Mozambique debt deeper to junk status on

Thursday, with the International Monetary Fund saying it will

send a team to the country in June for advance talks on a new

loan programme. Mozambique's international dollar bonds

slipped 0.2 cents on the dollar.

On the flipside, higher crude prices have benefitted

net-energy producers such as Kazakhstan and Russia, as the tenge

and the rouble have gained about 9% and 4% so far

this year, respectively.

The Kazakhstan central bank left benchmark rates on hold and

said it would be prepared to consider rate cuts in the future,

while economists anticipate Russia to lower borrowing costs by

50 basis points later in the day.

In emerging Europe, political jitters continued in Romania

as seven ministers from the largest party in the ruling

coalition, the Social Democrats, resigned from the pro-European

government of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, depriving him of a

parliamentary majority and endangering access to EU funds.

The country's international bonds

slipped 0.4 cents on the dollar, while the

cost for insuring against a potential sovereign default within

the next five years edged up 0.3 basis points to

166 - its highest since October.

In some positive news, the European Union formally approved

a 90-billion-euro ($105-billion) loan to Ukraine and new

sanctions against Russia, after oil started flowing through

Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia, prompting Budapest to end its

veto on the funds.

Some Ukrainian dollar bonds

were marginally higher.

On the trade front, the U.S. announced preliminary

anti-dumping duties on solar cells and panels imported from

India, Indonesia and Laos, the latest in a string of tariffs

imposed over a decade on solar imports from Asia.