EMERGING MARKETS-Stocks, FX struggle after recent run; Sri Lanka's dollar bonds tumble

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Mexico, Hungary, Czech, Sri Lanka rate verdicts due this week

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China stocks up for 4th day amid stimulus hopes

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China 30-year treasury yield hits record low

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South African rand hits 20-month high

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EM stocks hit 10-week high, up 0.2%; FX slips 0.2%

By Ankika Biswas

Sept 23 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets were largely muted on Monday after recent gains, with a slew of EM policy decisions and a U.S. inflation print dominating investors' weekly watch list, while Sri Lanka's dollar bonds slid after electing a Marxist-leaning president.

After the Federal Reserve's 50-basis-point interest rate cut deepened a rush into risky assets last week, investors are on the lookout for crucial inflation and other U.S. data for clues on the outlook for the economy as the central bank also projected further policy easing by the year's end.

The MSCI index for EM stocks touched a near 10-week high in early trade, before paring much of the gains. On Friday, it had logged its biggest weekly gain since Aug. 12, riding on the U.S. rate cut glee.

The currencies gauge, which has been trading at record-high levels, weakened slightly on the day after logging its eighth straight weekly advance.

While multiple EM central banks have already embarked on their own policy easing journey way ahead of the Fed, investors will closely monitor the progress on their upcoming policy actions. Brazil, Latin America's largest nation, in particular had delivered a 25 bps rate hike last week as inflation remains a challenge.

For the week, Mexico, Hungary, Czech Republic and Sri Lanka are among the major EMs scheduled to release their own interest rates decisions.

The Hungarian forint dipped 0.3% against the euro, while the Czech crown was flat, with both countries expected to deliver 25 bps cuts each over the next two days.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's international bonds tumbled around 3 cents on concerns that an election win by Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake could see him revisit the terms of the country's International Monetary Fund bailout and debt rework.

The short-dated bond with a 2025 maturity dropped 2.4 cents to be bid at 50.24 cents, Tradeweb data showed.

"While NPP (National Peoples Power) aims to stick with the IMF program, the path ahead is still uncertain," Citi economists noted.

China stocks rose for the fourth session, with the country's 30-year treasury yield hitting a record low amid heightened expectations that Beijing will unveil fresh economic stimulus. Hong Kong shares hit a three-month high, before closing slightly lower.

Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade, extending a rally sparked by regional rate cuts, although the gains were limited by ongoing geopolitical tensions.

Among others, South Africa's rand hit a fresh 20-month high against the greenback.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon Singleton)