*

Poland c.bank's two-day policy meeting to begin

*

South Africa's Nedbank Group up on higher annual profit

*

Stocks down 0.8%, FX off 0.1%

By Shashwat Chauhan

March 5 (Reuters) - An index of emerging market stocks

slipped on Tuesday as losses across heavyweight Asian equities

weighed, while most currencies traded in a tight range in a lack

of major catalysts.

By 0917 GMT, MSCI's gauge for emerging market stocks

lost 0.8%, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng amongst

the top decliners, closing 2.6% lower.

Sentiment remained dour after Chinese Premier Li Qiang, at

the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, set the

country's 2024 growth target at around 5%, a level similar to

last year.

"The absence of any measures designed to bolster the economy

in terms of stimulus was poorly received," Richard Hunter, head

of markets at interactive investor said.

"The weakness in pockets of the economy, most notably the

beleaguered property sector, (are) well-known and it

increasingly appears that the authorities are content for

natural economic growth to override any shorter term fiscal

boosts to repair the economy."

In Europe, the Hungarian forint held its ground to

trade at 396.08 per euro after a final estimate showed the

economy narrowly avoided a contraction in the fourth quarter.

The forint has lagged regional peers, down close to 4% so

far this year as its central bank has been ramping up its pace

of rate cuts, citing falling inflation.

The Czech crown was marginally lower, down 0.2%

against the euro after data showed average real wages fell by a

larger than expected 1.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter.

A broader gauge of EM currencies was down

0.1%, with Poland's zloty was flat at 4.3225 to the

euro.

The country's central bank begins its two-day policy meeting

on Tuesday, where it is expected to keep its main interest rate

on hold at 5.75%.

South Africa's rand weakened 0.2% against the dollar

ahead of the release of the fourth quarter gross domestic

product (GDP) reading.

Stocks in emerging Europe had a mixed start, with Poland's

WIG 20 down 1.2%, while Turkish shares rose

0.5%.

Global risk-on sentiment was also marred by remarks from

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, who on Monday

said that the U.S. central bank is under no urgent pressure to

cut interest rates given a "prospering" economy and job market.

Amongst headlining stocks in emerging markets, South

Africa's Nedbank Group gained 3.5% after the lender

recorded an 11% rise in its annual profit.

Meanwhile, in a boost for India's government debt market,

Bloomberg said that it will include 34 Indian securities under

the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) in its EM Local Currency Index,

that represent 7.26% of a $6.18 trillion index on a market value

weighted basis.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** BlackRock sees India, Indonesia as promising for

investment opportunities

** China's services activity growth momentum softens in Feb,

Caixin PMI shows

** South Africa business activity picks up in February, PMI

survey shows

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see

For TURKISH market report, see

For RUSSIAN market report, see