EMERGING MARKETS-Most Latam currencies subdued as traders weigh Fed rate path, stocks slide

* Falling oil prices hurt regional energy stocks * Brazil S&P composite PMI falls in September * Poland cuts rates by 25 basis points By Amruta Khandekar Oct 4 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies were muted on Wednesday as concerns about the Federal Reserve's interest rate path kept a lid on sentiment, though a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields from multi-year highs provided some support to markets. The Mexican peso was flat against a weaker dollar, but hovered close to a near-six month low, while the Colombian peso advanced 0.2% despite falling oil prices. Helping sentiment, the yield on longer dated U.S. Treasury notes eased from 16-year highs after data showing a smaller-than-expected rise in private payrolls pointed to signs of a softening labor market. "From here onwards, I would be more confident that the move over the next 12 months is for inflation to ease, for the U.S. rates to ease and that is a big relief factor for many markets," said Pablo Riveroll, head of Latam equities for Schroders. "But until then, and for as long as we continue to see U.S. rates widening, that will keep Latam markets under pressure." Latin American assets have taken a beating for the past two days from a jump in the US dollar as well as Treasury yields, as robust economic data fueled expectations of interest rates in the world's biggest economy staying higher for longer. Meanwhile, many Latin American and emerging market countries have started cutting interest rates, taking the shine off the yield on regional currencies and bonds. The move higher in US rates makes the setup for EM assets in the fourth quarter challenging, Goldman Sachs strategists said in a note, pointing to narrowing rate differentials between emerging markets and the US. The Brazilian real inched 0.1% higher against the dollar. The country's S&P global services composite PMI index fell to 49 in September from 50.6 in August, hinting at further softening in Latin America's largest economy following weak industrial output data on Tuesday. Chile's peso and the Peruvian sol were flat against the greenback. Latin American stocks were at near six-month lows, last down 2.7%, with equities in Brazil muted while Colombia's COLCAP index fell 0.4%. A drop in crude prices due to demand fears and despite pledges by Saudi Arabia and Russia to continue crude output cuts hurt energy stocks, with shares of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras and Colombia's Ecopetrol down 3.4% and 2% respectively. Elsewhere, the Polish zloty strengthened 0.4% versus the euro after the National Bank of Poland (NBP) cut its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% on Wednesday, in line with analysts' estimates. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1500 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 928.26 -1.16 MSCI LatAm 2173.18 -1.05 Brazil Bovespa 113466.42 0.04 Mexico IPC 50353.25 -0.03 Chile IPSA 5686.80 0.02 Argentina MerVal 560651.05 -0.138 Colombia COLCAP 1097.98 -0.41 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.1615 0.13 Mexico peso 18.0730 -0.04 Chile peso 916.7 0.04 Colombia peso 4219.93 0.07 Peru sol 3.822 0.04 Argentina peso 350.0000 0.01 (interbank) Argentina peso 825 -1.82 (parallel) (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel)