*

South African rand firms ahead of PPI data

*

Chinese yuan hits more than seven month high

*

EM stocks down 0.3%, FX up 0.1%

By Shashwat Chauhan

Aug 29 (Reuters) - A gauge for emerging markets stocks

slipped on Thursday as bourses with heavy chipmaker exposure

fell after Nvidia's ( NVDA ) quarterly results failed to impress

investors, while most currencies were muted ahead of economic

data.

As of 0830 GMT, MSCI's index for emerging market stocks

was down 0.3%, as bourses in South Korea and

Taiwan fell close to 1% each with shares of chip-making

firms leading the selloff.

U.S. firm Nvidia's ( NVDA ) quarterly forecast late on

Wednesday failed to meet the lofty expectations of investors who

have driven a dizzying rally in its stock as they bet billions

on the future of generative artificial intelligence.

"Nvidia ( NVDA ) is the flagbearer for the AI revolution, but

investors tend to overstate the importance of one set of

quarterly results in the grand scheme of AI," Matt Britzman,

senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said.

Bourses in emerging Europe were broadly higher with shares

in Prague leading gains, last up 0.7%.

A gauge for currencies added 0.1%, with the

Chinese yuan hitting a more than seven-month high in

onshore trading. The offshore yuan also gained 0.3%.

Currencies in Central Eastern Europe were largely stable,

with Poland's zloty, Hungary's forint and

the Czech crown all trading near flat against the

euro.

South Africa's rand perked up 0.6% ahead of the

release of domestic producer inflation data, while the Malaysian

ringgit led gains across emerging Asia with a 0.4% rise

against the dollar.

Focus will be on U.S. weekly jobless claims due later in the

day, which have gained prominence given the Federal Reserve's

focus on the health of the labour market.

The Fed's preferred inflation measure - the personal

consumption expenditures (PCE) index - due Friday, could offer

hints on the size of a potential rate cut in September.

Elsewhere in emerging markets, Kazakhstan's central bank

kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 14.25%, saying

inflationary risks have increased and there was a high

probability the rate would remain on hold until the end of this

year. The tenge was flat at 481.2 per dollar.

HIGHLIGHTS:

** Turkey's policy pivot cut risk of economic crisis, IMF

says

** China's lending to Africa rises for first time in seven

years, study shows

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