Corrects day in paragraph 1

By Nikhil Sharma and Johann M Cherian

May 15 (Reuters) - Major Latin American currencies and stocks slipped on Thursday, pausing after recent gains, while Mexico's peso declined as investors waited for a local central bank monetary policy decision later in the day.

MSCI's index for regional currencies .MILA00000CUS dipped 0.4%, against the dollar while a parallel index for stocks .MILA00000PUS eased 0.7%.

Both the indexes are on track for marginal weekly gains aided primarily by the earlier advances after the U.S. unveiled trade deals with the UK and China.

Investors are now looking for signs of trade agreements with other countries, while weighing the impact the uncertainty could have on investment and the global economy. That uncertainty was also reflected in lower commodities prices, such as for copper and iron ore, top export items out of Latin America.

Mexico's peso MXN= slipped 0.4%, with economists expecting Banxico to lower the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 8.5%. The local stock index .MXX dropped 0.2%.

Annual inflation is within the central bank's target range and a weaker economic outlook is expected to nudge policymakers to continue reducing borrowing costs.

"They have so much room to have low borrowing costs,while at the same time (the peso) is still an attractive currency because it's next to the United States, which all of a sudden looks less recessionary and more driven towards perhaps growth," said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex.

Oil exporter Colombia's peso COP= dipped 0.3%, tracking a fall in crude prices after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was nearing a nuclear deal with Iran.

Energy stocks in Latin America such as Argentina's YPF YPFDm.BA fell 3% and Colombia's Ecopetrol ECO.CN lost 2%.

Trump also said that Qatar will invest $10 billion in the U.S. over the coming years, while the United Arab Emirates is likely to announce artificial intelligence-related deals during his visit.

Trump is touring the Gulf region, during which he also lifted sanctions on Syria, a move likely to attract investors. Traders said the country's pound has appreciated from earlier in the week and was hovering between 9,000 and 9,500 to the dollar on Wednesday.

Brazil's real BRL= was flat after data showed retail sales volumes rose less than expected in March.

Chile's peso CLP= edged up 0.2%. Minutes from the latest central bank meeting showed board members evaluated a possible cut in the benchmark interest rate in April, before deciding to leave it unchanged, citing the need for further data on the impact of global trade uncertainty on Chile's economy.

Peru's sol PEN= was little changed. The country's President named Eduardo Arana, the Andean nation's latest justice minister, to become prime minister a day after Gustavo Adrianzen's resignation.

Elsewhere, the world was closely monitoring talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul.

(Reporting by Nikhil Sharma and Johann M Cherian; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

((Nikhil.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))