Updates with afternoon trading

By Niket Nishant and Twesha Dikshit

April 7 (Reuters) - Latin American equities slid on Tuesday with investors growing wary ahead of a U.S. deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, while some physical oil prices surpassed $150 a barrel.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened that "a whole civilization will die tonight," while Iran showed no signs of accepting his ultimatum to end its blockade of gulf oil before the 8 p.m. ET deadline.

The U.S.-Israeli war has upended global markets and sent oil prices soaring, reviving concerns over inflation and global growth.

MSCI's gauge of Latam equities .MILA00000PUS fell 1%, while a corresponding index of currencies .MILA00000CUS was flat

Chile's equities .SPIPSA fell 1.4%, with dependence on oil imports, combined with broader dollar strength, weighing on the country's assets. The country posted a wider-than-expected trade surplus in March.

"If the threatened escalation does happen and oil prices climb further, we can expect renewed strength for the USD too. The currencies that would be most vulnerable are the currencies of net energy importers," said Macquarie strategists.

"A related 'risk' that may manifest if Brent Crude rises toward USD 150/bbl are speculative attacks on the currencies of EM countries that are highly dependent on oil imports."

The Brazilian real BRL= dropped 0.5%, leading declines in the region, with South America's largest economy posting a trade surplus in March that fell short of expectations.

Separately, the government was preparing a new credit renegotiation program backed by federal guarantees to curb rising household debt, sources told Reuters.

EQUITIES TUMBLE, INVESTORS WARY OF TRUMP THREATS

Stocks were weaker across the board, with Mexico's benchmark index .MXX down 1.1%. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) negotiations would likely continue past the July 1 deadline.

Bourses in Colombia .COLCAP and Argentina .MERV slipped 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively. The Colombian peso COP=, the best-performing currency in the region since March, was little changed. Last week, the central bank raised interest rates despite pushback from the government.

A high-rate environment is often positive for a currency because it can encourage capital inflows into domestic bonds and other assets. However, the spat with the government could be a challenge.

"Markets read this as a credibility shock, prompting a repricing of institutional strength," said Pantheon Macroeconomics' chief LatAm economist Andres Abadia.

Sentiment toward regional assets remains highly sensitive to headlines from the Middle East.

Elsewhere in the emerging market universe, the Indonesian rupiah IDR= breached the 17,100 level against the dollar for the first time, defying the central bank's efforts to prop it up, as energy shocks and lingering fiscal and governance concerns chased foreign investors away.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 19:39 GMT:

Equities	Latest	Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF	1460.64	0.73
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS	3108.67	-0.96
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP	187087.97	-0.57
Mexico IPC .MXX	68263.86	-1.05
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA	10549.13	-1.36
Argentina Merval .MERV	2962135.89	-1.47
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP	2279.05	-0.94
Currencies	Latest	Daily % change
Brazil real BRL=	5.1628	-0.45
Mexico peso MXN=	17.729	0.12
Chile peso CLP=	917.5	-0.01
Colombia peso COP=	3674.67	0.06
Peru sol PEN=	3.4255	-0.14
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL	1392.5	0.11
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB=	1385.0	1.07