*
      Brazil's c.bank hikes interest rates by 100-bps, as
expected


        *
      Colombia's peso briefly hits over six-week low


        *
      Turkish cenbank hikes overnight lending rate to 46%


        *
      Latam stocks down 0.8%, FX off 0.4%



 (Updates with mid-session trading)
    By Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal
       March 20 (Reuters) - Latin American markets slipped on
Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's signal that it was in
no hurry to cut interest rates pushed up the dollar, while
concerns about the health of the U.S. economy persisted.
    Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the Trump
administration's initial policies, including extensive import
tariffs, appear to have tilted the U.S. economy toward slower
growth and at least temporarily higher inflation.
    Still, Fed policymakers still expect the central bank to
deliver two quarter-percentage-point rate cuts by the end of
this year, matching their projection in December.
    "It's probably a bit of a combination of one day
profit-taking and a little bit of maybe a stabilization of the
dollar after the Fed move yesterday," said Malcolm Dorson, head
of EM Strategy at Global X.
        Dorson said LatAm markets have had a "fantastic run" so
far this year on the back of weakness in the dollar, rising
commodity prices and some softening in U.S. President Donald
Trump's tariff rhetoric from what was previously expected.

    Brazil's real weakened 0.4% overshadowing the central
bank's decision to raise interest rates by 100 basis points for
the third consecutive time, as expected, and signaling a smaller
rate hike at its next policy meeting.
    "Brazil is facing a similar but more drastic situation as
the Fed, slowing growth but a rising inflation outlook. The
central bank is going to have a hard time going forward," said
Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies.
    Mexico's peso weakened 0.4%. The country's economy
likely fell 0.7% in February from the same month a year earlier,
a preliminary estimate showed.
        Chile's peso was the biggest decliner, down 1.1%,
set to snap a five session win streak, as copper prices
retreated after touching multi-month highs. Colombia's peso
 dropped 0.5%, hitting its lowest in over six weeks
earlier in the session.
    Colombian President Gustavo Petro has tapped German Avila
Plazas as the country's new finance minister, a source told
Reuters, after the former minister Diego Guevara announced his
resignation amid clashes over budget cuts.
    News of Guevara stepping down earlier this week had sent the
peso down more than 1% against the dollar.
    The broader gauge of Latin American currencies
 slipped 0.4%, while stocks fell
0.8%, both on track to snap a six-session gaining streak.
    Brazil's Bovespa slipped 0.4%, bogged down by losses
in industrials and utilities, and was set for its first
single-day decline in seven.
    Elsewhere, South Africa's rand remained under
pressure, down 0.2% despite the country's central bank pausing
its rate-cutting cycle.
    Turkey's lira appreciated 0.1% after hitting a
record low of 42 in the last session after the country's central
bank hiked its overnight lending rate to 46% in an interim
monetary policy committee meeting.
    Turkish assets were hit hard on Wednesday after authorities
detained President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival.
    In Venezuela, a report said the Trump's administration is
considering a plan to extend Chevron's ( CVX ) license to pump
oil in the country.


    HIGHLIGHTS

    ** Brazil's Minerva vows to cut debt after paying for large
acquisition
    ** Brazil's Haddad says recession not needed to bring
inflation down
    ** Mexico's northern state to receive $3.7 billion
investments, minister says


    Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:








 MSCI Emerging Markets         1140.19      -0.27

 MSCI LatAm                     2131.5      -0.84
 Brazil Bovespa              132026.07      -0.36
 Mexico IPC                   53000.43      -0.11
 Chile IPSA                    7575.53      -0.26
 Argentina Merval            2361722.0     -1.267
                                     9
 Colombia COLCAP               1609.75      -0.45








 Brazil real                    5.6713       -0.4
 Mexico peso                    20.146      -0.38
 Chile peso                     926.28      -1.08
 Colombia peso                  4171.5      -0.51
 Peru sol                        3.624      -0.25
 Argentina peso (interbank)     1068.5  0.0467945
                                               72
 Argentina peso (parallel)        1245  2.8112449
                                                8

 (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon
Singleton and Deepa Babington)