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EMERGING MARKETS-China easing puts emerging stocks in buoyant mood

By Chris Vellacott

LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets started the week in buoyant mood as Asian bourses got their first chance to react to China's surprise monetary easing that came after local markets closed on Friday.

The MSCI emerging stocks index rose one percent with the Asia ex-Japan benchmark up 1.2 percent.

In China, Shanghai and Hong Kong stocks were both nearly 2 percent higher.

Friday's surprise cut in rates, the first in more than two years, reflects a change of course by Beijing and the central bank, adopting a bold monetary policy step aimed at stabilising growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Many analysts think monetary easing in China and from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and European Central Bank (ECB), will help offset the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve scaling back its own stimulus.

"Some of this has been building for a while. We had the BOJ, ECB and now the Chinese rate cut helping to allay concerns about what will happen to EM (emerging markets) assets post-QE (quantitative easing), when the Fed tightens and it's giving broad-based support to emerging markets assets," said Neil Shearing, head of emerging market research at Capital Economics.

Meanwhile a stabilising oil price, helped by expectations that the OPEC cartel will act to halt falling prices helped Russian assets, sending the rouble up 2 percent.

A weaker oil price -- slashing revenues from Russia's main exports -- and western sanctions in retaliation for Moscow's involvement in the Ukrainian crisis have pushed the rouble down by a third since the start of 2014.

"There are early hopes that worst of the currency crisis is over," Capital Economics' Shearing said.

Russian shares were mixed, with the dollar-denominated RTS index rising 1.6 percent while its rouble-based counterpart the MCX fell 0.7 percent.

Nigeria's naira hit a new record low to the dollar though stocks rose 1 percent as oil stabilised

South Africa's rand dropped 0.3 pct against the dollar ahead of growth data due on Tuesday and suspicions the numbers may fall short of hopes.

Israel's shekel slipped 0.2 percent after Fitch revised the country's ratings outlook to 'Stable' from 'Positive'.

Pakistan is starting a roadshow ahead of a potential U.S. dollar-denominated Islamic bond.

For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2014, see http://link.reuters.com/jus35t

For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2014, see http://link.reuters.com/weh36s

For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging Europe performance 2014, see http://link.reuters.com/jun28s

For GRAPHIC on MSCI frontier index performance 2014, see http://link.reuters.com/zyh97s

For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see

For TURKISH market report, see

For RUSSIAN market report, see )

(Additional reporting by Sujata Rao)

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