UPDATE 2-Mexico rate cut unlikely as annual inflation speeds up in April

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May 9 (Reuters) - Mexico's 12-month inflation accelerated slightly more than expected in April, data from statistics agency INEGI showed on Thursday, suggesting the local central bank will keep interest rates on hold when its board meets later in the day.

Annual inflation in Latin America's second-largest economy hit 4.65% last month, INEGI said, up from 4.42% in March and slightly above the 4.63% forecast by economists polled by Reuters, still above official targets.

The Bank of Mexico (Banxico) in March delivered a much-anticipated 25-basis-point cut to its benchmark interest rate, bringing it down to 11%, but recent inflation trends should prevent a fresh cut on Thursday.

Members of the central bank's board have voiced caution as headline inflation sped up after bottoming out at 4.26% in October, remaining above the target of 3%, plus or minus a percentage point.

"There's nothing in the data which suggests to us that Banxico will cut its policy rate again when it meets later today," Capital Economics' deputy chief emerging markets economist Jason Tuvey said about the latest inflation figures.

Consumer prices in Mexico were up 0.20% in April according to non-seasonally adjusted figures, roughly in line with expectations, driven by a jump in agricultural inflation.

A silver lining in April was the closely watched core index, which strips out some volatile food and energy prices and rose 0.21% during the month, slightly below the 0.24% increase expected by market participants.

Annual core inflation slowed down to 4.37% from 4.55% a month before.

Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief Latin America economist, Andres Abadia, said the fresh figures confirmed easing inflation pressures at the core level but noted that bad weather conditions continued to constrain headline disinflation.

"This will give the most hawkish members of Banxico's board further reasons to keep interest rates on hold later today," he added. (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Ricardo Figueroa; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Kirsten Donovan)