Updates with afternoon trading

By Utkarsh Hathi, Purvi Agarwal and Niket Nishant

July 17 (Reuters) - Most Latin American assets were swept up in a global risk-off wave on Friday, putting stocks on track for weekly losses as a pullback in tech shares and U.S.-Iran hostilities dented risk appetite.

MSCI's Latin American equity index .MILA00000PUS edged 0.4% lower, while the region's currencies .MILA00000CUS also weakened 0.4% against the dollar.

Tensions in the Gulf region intensified after U.S. strikes on Iran, with Tehran saying it had closed the Strait of Hormuz this week, after a fragile ceasefire agreement collapsed. Energy infrastructure in the Gulf was hit, raising uncertainty over global energy security.

Oil prices rose more than 2% to their highest levels in over a month, while shipping data showed only three ships passing through the crucial waterway on Thursday.

"It affects Latin America primarily through two channels: global risk appetite and energy prices. If the conflict remains contained ... the region should be able to coexist with it," said Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer of EM at UBS Global Wealth Management.

"In that scenario, global financial conditions would likely remain resilient while energy prices stay relatively elevated."

In Brazil, the government authorized a nearly $2.6 billion credit package for the rural sector, which would be hit by Washington's latest 25% tariffs.

It is also considering other retaliatory measures, including suspending patent protections for U.S. pharmaceutical products and agricultural seeds.

The tariffs come ahead of Brazil's October election, for which the latest opinion polls show President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva outpacing conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Equities in Brazil .BVSP weakened 0.2%, while the Brazilian real BRL= also fell 0.2%. Separately, data showed economic activity in the region's largest economy grew slightly more than expected in May, reinforcing expectations of further rate cuts.

Most equities in the region were hit by the risk-off momentum. Stocks in Chile .SPIPSA dropped 0.5%, tracking falling prices of copper.

Colombian stocks .COLCAP were flat while Peruvian equities .MXNUAMPESCPGPE dipped 0.1%.

However, Czerwonko said equity markets in the region were still attractively valued and continued to be supported by earnings growth in several countries.

Mexican stocks .MXX gained 0.3%.

On the FX front, the dollar index =USD was stable. It lost ground earlier in the week after softer-than-expected inflation readings in the U.S., which prompted traders to scale back on expectations of an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike.

"Investors continue to view higher U.S. rates and a stronger U.S. dollar as the main external risks for LatAm equities," said David Beker, head of LatAm equity strategy at BofA Merrill Lynch.

On Friday, currencies in Mexico MXN= and Peru PEN= depreciated 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, while Chile's peso CLP= weakened 1.2% against the dollar.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

Equities	Latest	Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF	1618	-2.77
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS	2986.15	-0.42
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP	173445.86	-0.22
Mexico IPC .MXX	66536.69	0.27
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA	10891.8	-0.51
Argentina MerVal .MERV	3190542.63	0.166
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP	2286.27	0.05

Currencies	Latest	Daily % change
Brazil real BRL=	5.1102	-0.19
Mexico peso MXN=	17.5278	-0.65
Chile peso CLP=	934.58	-1.15
Colombia peso COP=	3253.34	-0.86
Peru sol PEN=	3.4088	-0.83
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL	1,478	-0.10
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB=	1,510.0	0.99