By Karin Strohecker LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Emerging stocks booked a third day of gains to approach new one-year highs, helped by recent weak U.S. data, while South African assets benefited from forecast-beating second quarter growth data. MSCI's emerging market index added 0.9 percent and flirted with fresh one-year highs after being lifted by strong gains across Asia, where stocks in Taiwan and India jumped more than 1 percent while equities in Russia and Hungary rose half a percentage point. The benchmark has rallied more than 3 percent since hitting an intraday low on Thursday when it was whacked by hawkishness around a central bankers' meeting in Jackson Hole. It then bounced back after U.S. jobs and factory data that reduced expectations of a rate rise this month. "If there were any questions about a September rate hike in the U.S., that has been pushed back to December," said William Jackson, senior EMC economist at Capital Economics. Recent economic data from emerging market economies had also improved, he added "We're unlikely to see the gains we saw in emerging market equities earlier in August, but there is some scope for it to continue." The upbeat sentiment towards emerging markets helped investment manager Ashmore post forecast-beating full-year profits. But while investors added to positions in emerging markets in the past year, Ashmore said many institutional investors would take longer to react to improving market conditions. Currencies broadly strengthened against a softer dollar . South Africa led the pack, with the rand adding more than 1 percent in to hit the strongest in 11 days. The rand has risen for four straight sessions, recovering from two-month low it hit last week on back of escalating political tensions within the ruling ANC Party. The cost of insuring exposure to South African sovereign debt was at its lowest in seven days, according to Markit. Markets should gain more traction after data showed second quarter gross domestic product expanded 3.3 percent on the quarter versus forecasts of 2.3 percent. Russia's rouble struggled 0.1 percent higher as Brent crude prices slipped following two days of solid gains and as hopes for producers to support prices wanes. In Turkey, the lira traded flat as Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli re-iterated that interest rates must be lowered and the government was in no doubt that the recent downward trend in rates will be lasting. Across emerging Europe, Poland's zloty rose 0.2 percent against the euro before Wednesday's central bank meeting that is expected to keep rates unchanged. Romania confirmed its flash second quarter GDP, showing the economy had expanded a solid 6 percent year-on-year with domestic consumption nearly hitting double digits, putting it at the top of regional growth stakes. Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 917.32 +7.72 +0.85 +15.51 Czech Rep 883.63 +2.79 +0.32 -7.60 Poland 1778.60 -9.42 -0.53 -4.33 Hungary 28502.61 +94.43 +0.33 +19.15 Romania 7019.28 -6.77 -0.10 +0.21 Greece 576.18 -2.09 -0.36 -8.74 Russia 982.88 +5.43 +0.56 +29.83 South Africa 47019.75 -58.94 -0.13 +2.67 Turkey 77925.75 +134.14 +0.17 +8.64 China 3091.45 +19.35 +0.63 -12.65 India 28849.07 +316.96 +1.11 +10.46 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency % change % change in 2016 Czech Rep 27.02 27.01 -0.01 -0.06 Poland 4.34 4.34 +0.08 -1.82 Hungary 309.79 309.39 -0.13 +1.57 Romania 4.45 4.45 -0.07 +1.56 Serbia 123.24 123.22 -0.02 -1.44 Russia 64.85 64.94 +0.14 +12.50 Kazakhstan 339.92 340.06 +0.04 +0.17 Ukraine 26.81 26.70 -0.41 -10.66 South Africa 14.21 14.37 +1.16 +8.82 Kenya 101.25 101.30 +0.05 +0.94 Israel 3.76 3.76 -0.01 +3.32 Turkey 2.94 2.94 +0.12 -0.83 China 6.68 6.68 -0.07 -2.81 India 66.54 66.42 -0.17 -0.51 Brazil 3.25 3.28 +0.84 +21.65 Mexico 18.50 18.56 +0.30 -7.21 Debt Index Strip Spd Chg %Rtn Index Sov'gn Debt EMBIG 358 -1 .04 7 68.37 1 All data taken from Reuters at 08:56 GMT. Currency percent change calculated from the daily U.S. close at 2130 GMT. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/jus35t For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/weh36s For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging Europe performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/jun28s For GRAPHIC on MSCI frontier index performance 2016, see http://link.reuters.com/zyh97s For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see ) (Additional reporting Claire Milhench; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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