* Emerging FX lower as Greece-inspired rally wanes * Turkish lira pressured by strong oil price * Hungary aid, China easing hopes buoy shares * Trade subdued ahead of U.S. payrolls By Philip Baillie LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Emerging currencies fell on Friday as a rally in riskier assets inspired by Greece's bond swap deal lost momentum while buoyant oil prices weighed on the Turkish lira. Shares were mixed but outperformed developed markets, with signs that Hungary is inching closer to an international aid agreement underpinning gains in Budapest after hopes China will take further steps to ensure a soft landing for its economy boosted equities there. Trade was thin ahead of U.S. data at 1330 GMT that is expected to show that number of people getting jobs increased in February for a third straight month. These expectations boosted the dollar against the euro with the single currency also pressured by worries over other weak euro zone sovereigns following the Greek deal. This spilled over into central Europe, where Hungary's forint led with a fall of almost a half percent as investors took profits on recent gains. "Emerging European currencies are weaker in tone today in line with the euro, which has run out of steam after the Greek PSI (Private sector involvement) results," said Thu Lan Nguyen, emerging markets strategist at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "U.S. payrolls will be key for the dollar. The Federal reserve is looking for an improvement in the labour market and if it keeps surprising to the upside, it decreases the chance of another round of quantitative easing. That will boost the dollar but won't be too good for emerging markets." The forint reversed the previous session's rise -the biggest in a month - while the Polish zloty dropped by 0.36 percent against the euro. The Turkish lira fell 0.4 percent and the Russian rouble dipped 0.15 percent against the dollar in offshore trade. Moscow markets are closed for a holiday. The rouble has fallen six out of the last seven days against the backdrop to the Russian presidential elections. EQUITIES UP MSCI's benchmark emerging markets share index rise 0.75 percent, well off recent six-month highs but adding to Thursday's gains and outperforming shares in western Europe, which rose 0.1 percent. Emerging market equity funds saw inflows of $907 million over the past week according to EPFR Global, which released data to clients late on Thursday. This is higher than the average for the past 3 weeks but well below the $3 billion of weekly inflows seen in the first six weeks of the year. Dedicated Russia funds received $121 million the highest of any country fund, indicating investors were relatively positive about the outcome of last weekend's presidential election, which saw Vladimir Putin win a 64 percent share of votes. In central Europe, Hungary's main stock index rose for the second day in a row as investors were heartened by comments made by Prime Minister Viktor Orban that the country was committed to seeking a funding deal from the International Monetary Fund. Hungarian assets have been volatile in recent sessions after the European Commission said Hungary needed to do more to show it was committed to central bank independence. Investors are worried that a EU/IMF loan is yet some way off. "Although the markets reacted mildly positively we remain skeptical that a deal could be reached within the near term," UniCredit told clients in a note. Hungarian credit default swaps (CDS) rose 13 basis points to 534 bps, according to Markit, the highest since mid-February. The Budapest index however gained 0.4 percent. Shares in the biggest Hungarian lender OTP gained 1.6 percent which posted a rare loss but said it expected its loan book to start growing in 2012. Emerging sovereign debt spreads tightened by 1 basis point to 321 bps over U.S. Treasuries, close to their narrowest in more than two weeks. (Additional reporting by Sujata Rao, Editing by John Stonestreet)

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