EMERGING MARKETS-Romania apos;s Leu Slips After Smaller Rate Hike;...

By Susan Mathew Nov 8 (Reuters) - The Romanian leu slipped on Tuesday after the country's central bank slowed the pace of interest rate hikes, while other emerging market currencies were mixed as investors braced for volatility in the dollar tied to the U.S.
midterm elections. The leu eased 0.3%, hitting session lows to last trade at 4.89 per euro. In its 10th straight hike, the central bank lifted the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 6.75%, its highest level in more than a decade, saying inflation would not fall into single digits until 2024.

But the move disappointed the majority view for a 75-basis-point hike. "With inflation pressures likely to reach a peak soon and signs of a downturn in Romania's economy to become more evident over the coming months, we think the central bank may opt for an even smaller 25-basis-point hike at its next meeting in January, and that could mark the end of the tightening cycle," said Nicholas Farr, emerging Europe economist at Capital Economics.

The leu's move was in line with weakness in its regional peers. Hungary's forint and the Polish zloty slipped around 0.3% each against a weaker euro. Among other emerging market currencies, Brazil's real edged 0.3% lower, extending the previous session's 2% slide, which ended seven straight sessions of gains.
Fears are growing of increased fiscal spending by Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Commerzbank analysts said. Brazil is on thin-ice with fiscal spending following social welfare measures rolled out in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the real could gain again should Lula appoint market-friendly ministers to his cabinet, and 1win comment utiliser bonus sport could trade above the 5.00 mark to the dollar for the "time being", Commerzbank said. Elsewhere, Asian units, except the Chinese yuan, rose, as did the Chilean and Colombian pesos.
Russia's rouble hit one-month highs. South Africa's rand slipped 0.4% while Mexico's peso was down 0.2%. The dollar made small swings with voting in the U.S. midterm elections underway. The results will determine control of Congress, which is currently held by President Joe Biden's Democrats.

Investors are generally betting that Republicans will win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, leading to political gridlock in Washington that could prevent radical policy changes. Turkey's lira slumped 0.9%, more than giving back Monday's 0.7% gain. The central bank told top bank executives that it will continue decisively with market regulating policies that have been criticised by the banking sector.

Turkish banks, now enjoying record profits, face a painful reversal of fortune next year as tough regulations loosen their grip on balance sheets. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 899.43 0.23 MSCI LatAm 2293.85 -0.6 Brazil Bovespa 115922.92 0.5 Mexico IPC 0.00 0 Chile IPSA 5322.95 0.63 Argentina MerVal 148958.98 0.764 Colombia COLCAP 1244.69 0.04 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.1666 -0.20 Mexico peso 19.5058 -0.33 Chile peso 910.9 0.52 Colombia peso 5025.56 1.56 Peru sol 3.938 0.05 Argentina peso 159.7000 -0.21 (interbank) (Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao)