EMERGING MARKETS-Latam stocks rise in quiet pre-holiday trading; Mexican peso at eight-year high

* Chile to cut interest rate by 75 bps in April- poll * Mexican peso touches highest since 2015 * Brazil's Haddad foresees 'quite expressive' Feb payroll data (Updated at 4pm ET/2000 GMT) By Ankika Biswas March 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso touched an eight-year high against the dollar and most Latin American stock indexes turned higher on Wednesday, although trading was fairly muted on the last day of the trading week for most regional markets. Mexico's peso jumped as high as 16.5130 to the dollar, its strongest since December 2015. It was last up 0.5% at 16.5597. The peso's rise boosted MSCI's basket of Latin American currencies 0.4%. A gauge of regional stocks jumped 1%, set for its best session in one week. Thin trading volumes are expected for the rest of the holiday-shortened week for most markets. Markets in Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina will be closed from Thursday, while Brazil will be shut on Friday. Argentine markets will remain inactive for four days. "Markets appear to have an eye on month-end and the long weekend already," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank. Also boosting the peso, Mexico's economy is seen growing up to 3.5% this year and then expanding 2% to 3% in 2025 while inflation is expected to come down, a draft budget from the country's finance ministry showed. Further data showed Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6% in February, while the headline unadjusted rate was 2.5%. Peru's sol lost 0.6% against the dollar as copper prices retreated to a two-week low. Colombia's peso lost 0.3% while Brazil's real was about flat. Brazil's economy created a better-than-expected net 306,111 formal jobs in February, according to Labor Ministry figures. Top crude oil exporter Colombia's peso shed 0.2% as oil prices fell for a second day. Elsewhere, South Africa kept its interest rate unchanged at 8.25%, saying on balance risks to the inflation outlook were skewed to the upside. "The continued hawkish rhetoric from Governor Kganyago supports our view that rate cuts will only happen after May's election," Capital Economics' deputy chief emerging markets economist Jason Tuvey said. "Even then, a period of political uncertainty and a build-up of fiscal risks after the vote could prompt the SARB to not cut rates at all this year." A central bank poll showed Chile is likely to cut its benchmark rate by 75 basis points to 6.50% at its April meeting, smaller than a previously anticipated 100-bps reduction. Stock markets in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia rose between 0.3% and 1.1%. Shares of Colombia's Ecopetrol jumped 4%. Brazilian meat-packer JBS SA shares lost over 2% after reporting results below analysts expectations, driven by difficulties at its U.S. beef division. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2000 GMT: Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1036.74 -0.32 MSCI LatAm 2539.59 1.07 Brazil Bovespa 127729.60 0.68 Mexico IPC 57400.32 0.33 Chile IPSA 6597.94 1.19 Argentina MerVal 1213212.02 -0.119 Colombia COLCAP 1332.98 1.13 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 4.9790 0.02 Mexico peso 16.5570 0.47 Chile peso 979.5 0.04 Colombia peso 3857.5 -0.31 Peru sol 3.7157 -0.59 Argentina peso 857.5000 -0.06 (interbank) Argentina peso 990 2.53 (parallel) (Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and Daniel Wallis)