EMERGING MARKETS-Latam FX, stocks gain on U.S. stimulus talks

* LatAm stocks, currencies near March highs * Chilean peso jumps as copper prices nears 8-year high * Mexican and Colombian peso supported by higher oil prices By Shashank Nayar Dec 17 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and currencies rose on Thursday as talks of fresh U.S. stimulus aided demand for riskier assets while the Chilean peso jumped to a 14-month high as prices for the country's main export copper surged. The peso gained 1.5% to 723 per dollar, its strongest level since October 2019 as copper prices inched toward their highest in nearly eight years on falling stockpiles. MSCIs index of Latin American currencies and stocks gained nearly 1%, hovering near their early March highs as the dollar tumbled to its lowest in over two years. The No. 2 U.S. House Democrat Steny Hoyer said he hoped a deal on fresh fiscal aid would be reached later in the day, citing progress in COVID-19 deal talks. Even after rallying sharply over the past month, driven by bets on a vaccine-led recovery in the global economy, the MSCI LatAm stocks and currency indexes are set to end 2020 lower. JPMorgan cross asset analyst John Normand expects the MSCI LatAm equity index to rise to target 2,600 points in 2021, a nearly 6% upside from Wednesday's close. Among currencies, Normand is "overweight" on Brazil, "neutral" on Mexico and Chile and "underweight" on Peru, Colombia and Argentina. The Mexican peso inched 0.1% higher ahead of the central bank policy decision on Thursday where analysts expect the benchmark rates to be left unchanged. Pesos in Mexico and Colombia were bolstered by higher oil prices. But gains in Brazil's real were muted as its central bank downgraded the outlook for 2021 GDP growth to 3.8% from 3.9%, stressing that the review reflects expectations of anticipated recovery this year in addition to a slower resumption in the labor market and return to normality. "While a weak dollar has helped the real gain, at the moment what we have in Brazil is a high amount of fiscal uncertainty with regard to its wider deficits, which continues to weigh on the currency," said Mauricio Une, an economist at Rabobank. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes daily % change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 1269.99 0.49 MSCI LatAm 2481.08 1.5 Brazil Bovespa 118184.87 0.28 Mexico IPC 0.00 0 Chile IPSA 4127.35 0.4 Argentina MerVal 0.00 0 Colombia COLCAP 1421.47 0 Currencies daily % change Latest Brazil real 5.0607 0.93 Mexico peso 19.8079 0.08 Chile peso 722.7 1.54 Colombia peso 3402.81 0.45 Peru sol 3.5867 0.00 Argentina peso (interbank) 82.7100 -0.10 (Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrea Ricci)