EMERGING MARKETS-Latin American stocks, currencies rise as commodity prices recover

* Brazilian inflation picks up in mid-February * Brazil's BRF up after posting quarterly profit * Stocks up 1.3%, currencies add 0.5% By Shashwat Chauhan Feb 27 (Reuters) - Most stocks and currencies in resources-rich Latin America advanced on Tuesday as copper and iron ore prices ticked up on hopes of a Chinese demand recovery. At 10:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), MSCI's index for Latin American currencies was up 0.5%, while stocks gained 1.3%. Iron ore exporter Brazil's real firmed 0.7% as prices of its top export rebounded, supported by hopes of demand recovery in top consumer China and a potential export tax on Indian low-grade iron ore. Earlier, government statistics agency IBGE said Brazil's inflation picked up in mid-February driven by higher education prices, but landed slightly below market expectations. "In our assessment, the inflation dynamics support the continuation of a gradual easing cycle, but the core-services inflation underlying dynamics merit attention," Goldman Sachs' Alberto Ramos wrote in a note. Currencies of oil producers also advanced early on rising crude oil prices, with Mexico's peso gaining 0.3%, while the Colombian peso appreciated as much as 0.6%. Top copper producer Chile's peso firmed 0.3% against the dollar as prices of the red metal gained. Bucking the trend, Peru's sol fell 0.2% against the dollar to 3.7919. Stocks in Argentina also lost 0.6% early on. Brazil's main stock index rose 1.1%, lifted by rising materials and utilities shares. Brazilian food processor BRF SA gained 5.9% after reporting strong fourth-quarter results. Stocks in Mexico fell 0.2%, while Chile's main stock index gained 1.2%. Looking ahead, inflation data from several major economies and manufacturing figures out of China are in focus this week. Most closely watched will be Thursday's release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Federal Reserve uses to track its 2% inflation target. Elsewhere in emerging markets, Hungary's forint fell to its lowest level in nearly five months after the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) ramped up its pace of rate cuts by slashing the base rate by 100 basis points to 9%. Nigeria's central bank, on the other hand, hiked its interest rates by 4 percentage points. HIGHLIGHTS ** Principal Asset Management upbeat on Latin America to counter China view ** G20 eye regional 'conflicts' in tight draft communique Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging 1027.12 0.29 Markets MSCI LatAm 2561.88 1.1 Brazil Bovespa 131059.76 1.12 Mexico IPC 56078.67 -0.21 Chile IPSA 6281.07 1.17 Argentina MerVal 1073867.8 -0.609 0 Colombia COLCAP 1290.32 -0.08 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 4.9494 0.63 Mexico peso 17.0458 0.29 Chile peso 985.1 0.30 Colombia peso 3929.95 0.64 Peru sol 3.7919 -0.13 Argentina peso 841.1000 -0.05 (interbank) Argentina peso 1055 2.37 (parallel) (Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)