EMERGING MARKETS-Latam currencies dip as dollar weighs, Chilean peso outperforms

* 'Amazonia' bonds in 2024 seen a tough sell for some * US is reimposing oil sanctions on Venezuela, officials say * Mexican economy up 2.1% y/y in March - preliminary estimate * Latam FX off 0.2%, stocks up 0.6% By Bansari Mayur Kamdar April 18 (Reuters) - A firm dollar pressured most Latin American currencies on Thursday, although strong copper prices helped Chile's peso to buck regional weakness. The MSCI index for Latam currencies slipped 0.2%, while the stocks index rose 0.6% by 1422 GMT. The U.S. dollar index rebounded from weakness earlier in the day as investors weighed U.S. economic data pointing to labor market strength and Federal Reserve officials' comments that the decline in inflation may have stalled. Nevertheless, the currency of leading copper producer Chile gained 0.8% against the dollar, outpacing regional peers, as copper prices rallied to a 22-month high. "We think the headwinds driving the depreciation of the Chilean peso against the U.S. dollar have largely run their course," said Ruben Gargallo Abargues, assistant economist at Capital Economics, in a note. He added factors such as Chile's easing cycle slowing, expectations Chile's terms of trade will continue to improve and the undervaluation of the peso should support the Chilean currency. Chilean President Gabriel Boric told a major copper industry conference on Wednesday he expected production at state-run miner Codelco to grow slowly this year and reach 1.7 million metric tons by 2030, and that he sees copper prices rising. Currencies of oil producers Colombia and Mexico shed 0.5% each against the dollar as crude prices fell on hopes of easing tensions in major producing region the Middle East. Mexico's economy likely grew 2.1% in March compared with the same month a year earlier, a preliminary estimate from national statistics agency INEGI showed on Thursday. Brazil's real struggled for direction and was last up 0.1% against the U.S. dollar. Elsewhere, the Biden administration said it would not renew a licence that had broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions, moving to reimpose punitive measures in response to President Nicolas Maduro's failure to meet his election commitments. A political push to raise the first-ever "Amazonia Bond" has intensified during talks to agree a roadmap, yet the chance of a deal this year faces technical hurdles and scepticism among some of those tasked with managing the debt, sources told Reuters. The South Korean won rose against the dollar after the finance ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed to cooperate on foreign exchange. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1422 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1018.00 0.55 MSCI LatAm 2402.28 0.63 Brazil Bovespa 124941.49 0.62 Mexico IPC 55850.03 0.78 Chile IPSA 6462.22 0.08 Argentina MerVal 1184238.47 1.014 Colombia COLCAP 1343.83 -0.47 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.2397 0.04 Mexico peso 17.0560 -0.58 Chile peso 970.5 0.72 Colombia peso 3911.75 -0.50 Peru sol 3.7405 -0.05 Argentina peso (interbank) 869.5000 0.00 Argentina peso (parallel) 1010 1.98 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)