* Emerging shares slide over 2 pct, debt weakest in 2 years * Forint, zloty hit hard as euro zone growth worries rise * Singapore dollar, Korean won down on Asian FX selloff By Sebastian Tong LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Emerging markets tumbled on Monday, gripped by gloom after the weekend meeting of European finance ministers failed to break new ground in dealing with a deepening euro zone debt crisis. Heavy selling sank high-yield currencies, with the Korean won and the Singapore dollar among notable losers in Asian hours and the Polish zloty and Hungarian forint hardest-hit in the early European session. Hopes that euro zone leaders would come up with a more robust response to the region's sovereign woes and help Greece avert default evaporated after European Union finance ministers ended their meeting on Saturday without agreeing to grant its 440 billion euro bailout fund more firepower. The ability of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to push though a crucial parliamentary vote on the euro zone bailout later this month has come into question after her party's defeat in a regional election on Sunday. The deterioration in risk appetite hit emerging assets hard, sending the key equity benchmark reeling over 2 percent by 1135 GMT -- double the loss seen on the world index . Sovereign dollar debt spreads were 9 basis points wider over U.S. Treasuries at 367 bps, their weakest level in two years. "We are certainly feeling the pain this morning. The markets have gone into reverse, with investors taking profit after Thursday and Friday gains. The gloom has reasserted itself and we're fully coupled to developed markets, where losses in the G10 markets are exacerbated and multiplied in the emerging markets space," said Antero Atilla, senior analyst at Danske Bank. "Overall confidence has been badly hit and the euro zone crisis has impacted on the growth outlook, especially among central and eastern European export-oriented economies such as Poland and Hungary." The Thomson Reuters Emerging European stock index fell 2.4 percent, with Polish stocks snapping a four-day winning streak to slide nearly 3 percent. Hungarian shares fell over 2.5 percent and Czech shares slid 2 percent to plumb fresh two-year depths. Russia's dollar index sagged 1.8 percent to fresh four-week lows while Turkish shares weakened over half a percentage point to pull back from Friday's six-week high. FX ROUT The market rout saw investors slashing bets on Asian stocks and currencies, which until recently were seen as more resilient to global volatility. The Singapore dollar suffered its biggest one-day loss since early August while the Korean won waned to a half-year low versus the dollar. "Asian bonds have not benefited much from the stock sell-off reinforcing the risk-off mode and the exit out of all risk positions. With Europe the undeniable driver of markets currently, we take a step back and watch for developments on this front. A further scaling back of outstanding long exposures to Asia will continue to hurt Asian currencies and bonds," BNP Paribas said in a note. In the European session, the forint saw its biggest one-day fall against the euro in over a year, losing nearly 2 percent and sinking to a 15-month low. Like Hungary, Poland also paid the price for its reliance on exports to euro zone economies, with the zloty down more than 1 percent to retest the 27-month low it hit last week. Versus the Swiss franc, both the forint and the zloty slipped over 1 percent, nudging the cost of insuring their sovereign debt for five years to fresh 2-1/2 year peaks. Hungary's central bank, along with those of South Africa, the Czech Republic and Turkey, have rate-setting meetings this week. Analysts expect the Hungarian central bank to keep rates on hold . Among the high-yield currencies that set new multi-month lows was Russia's rouble, which fell to fresh 10-month lows against its euro-dollar basket and the greenback . South Africa's rand traded at 15-month lows to the greenback while Israel's shekel stayed on the back foot against the dollar after Central Bank Governor Stanley Fischer said on Sunday that interest rates could be lowered if the economic situation deteriorated further. "We continue to believe that monetary and geopolitical risks will lead to shekel underperformance in the months ahead," said RBC Capital Markets in a note. (Reporting by Sebastian Tong; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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