EMERGING MARKETS-Hawkish central banks keep currencies afloat

* Czech crown, Polish zloty rise against euro * Mexican, Colombian cenbank hike interest rates by 25 bps * Brazil's Petrorio jumps 7%, America Movil extends gains (Adds details, updates prices throughout) By Susan Mathew and Shreyashi Sanyal Sept 30 (Reuters) - Hawkish central banks lifted most emerging market currencies on Thursday, with Colombia's peso and the Czech crown rallying after rate hikes, while an index of emerging market stocks built on the day's gains as most Latam bourses also rose. MSCI's index of EM stocks picked up from over five-week lows to rise 0.2%, with a 0.3% gain in Brazil's Bovespa index - the most among Latam peers - adding to gains elsewhere. The Czech crown looked to post its best session in nearly 11 months against the euro after a 75 basis points hike to 1.5%. The Mexican peso fell 0.7%, while Colombia's currency rallied 0.8% after 25 basis point hikes from respective central banks of both countries. The Polish zloty firmed 0.5% against the euro for its sharpest rise since April after minutes of the central bank's last meeting suggested a rate rise might be imminent, while Russia is seen hiking next month for a sixth time this year to curb inflation. Most EM central banks have been on a hiking cycle as a fragile recovery from the pandemic has fanned inflation, helping the currencies stay buoyed against a dollar now at one-year highs. "As long as EM central banks do not fall behind the curve, currency pressures should be relatively well contained, potentially creating some interesting opportunities in local currency debt...," Patrick Curran, senior economist at Tellimer, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum. Brazil's real lost 0.7% after the central bank projected 2.1% economic growth for 2022 compared with a revised 4.7% for this year, citing its aggressive tightening cycle compressing growth. The real is set for its worst month since March this year, and its biggest quarterly loss since March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic virtually brought economic activity to a standstill. Chile's peso has lost about 10% this quarter. The currency slumped to a 15-month low on the day as copper prices eased. Data on Thursday showed Chile's copper output fell in August. Currency of the world's second-biggest copper producer Peru is on course for its sharpest quarterly decline since 2013, down 6.7%. Among stocks, Brazilian oil company Petrorio jumped 7% on a report that its has the highest bid for Petrobras' Albacora field, while sanitation company Sabesp rose 3.4% after its board's move towards privatization. Mexico's biggest telecoms company America Movil extended gains after shareholders approved a plan to spin off its towers business in Latin America. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1834 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1253.42 0.17 MSCI LatAm 2224.54 -0.49 Brazil Bovespa 111482.97 0.34 Mexico IPC 51256.13 0.34 Chile IPSA 4352.47 0.4 Argentina MerVal 77706.38 1.459 Colombia COLCAP 1360.94 0.04 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.4691 -0.73 Mexico peso 20.6252 -0.68 Chile peso 810.5 -0.12 Colombia peso 3805.33 0.74 Peru sol 4.137 -0.56 Argentina peso (interbank) 98.7300 -0.01 Argentina peso (parallel) 183 2.19 (Reporting by Susan Mathew, Shreyashi Sanyal and Lisa Pauline Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Marguerita Choy)