* Powell says no plans for immediate tapering * Argentina"s largest province to restructure $7 bln debt * Brazilian real top weekly performer among Latam peers * Mexican stocks briefly hit record high (Updates with Powell speech) By Shreyashi Sanyal and Ambar Warrick Aug 27 (Reuters) - Most Latin American currencies rallied on Friday as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calmed market expectations for imminent stimulus tapering, with Brazil"s real racing past its emerging market peers this week. Colombia"s peso and Brazil"s real led gains for the day, rising around 1% each. Risk-driven assets surged across the globe after Powell indicated that programs which have flooded markets with liquidity for the past year will remain in place for the time being. "Powell"s Jackson Hole speech was dovish in tone and consistent with the market"s expectations. The Federal Reserve has done ample work in recent weeks to prepare the market for the potential of a late 2021 tapering announcement," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer, The Bahnsen Group. Most Latin American currencies had traded largely rangebound in the lead-up to the Powell speech, after logging large losses last week as investors fretted over rising COVID-19 cases and a potential slowdown in global economic growth. This week, the real was on track for a weekly gain of 3.2%, its best in nearly five months and the top performing emerging market currency. Still, concerns remained about Brazil"s stretched fiscal spending, even as the government marked some progress in negotiations with the Supreme Court as it seeks to stagger mandated payments to avoid breaking the spending cap. Mexico"s peso reversed early losses and traded 0.8% higher, while Mexican stocks briefly touched record highs as the country"s new finance minister said the 2022 budget will not increase taxes. Peru"s sol rose 0.2% after the economy ministry hiked its economic growth forecast for the current year to 10.5% from 10.0% previously, due to what it called a strong recovery in production. Peru"s Congress pushed back a key vote to confirm or reject a new leftist Cabinet nominated by President Pedro Castillo to Friday, extending uncertainty as conflicts between the executive and the legislature loom large. Rising copper prices on the back of a softer dollar lifted the Chilean peso, which is now set to clock small weekly gains. The Argentine peso was flat. Investors are waiting for the country"s largest province, Buenos Aires province, to wrap up its $7 billion restructuring of foreign currency bonds on Friday after more than 16 months of negotiations. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 1273.98 0.62 MSCI LatAm 2488.16 1.92 Brazil Bovespa 120303.76 1.33 Mexico IPC 52343.96 0.1 Chile IPSA 4465.98 0.5 Argentina MerVal 73565.98 2.817 Colombia COLCAP 1322.72 0.66 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.2009 1.03 Mexico peso 20.1844 0.83 Chile peso 783.7 0.32 Colombia peso 3824.91 1.07 Peru sol 4.0512 0.19 Argentina peso 97.5600 -0.03 (interbank) (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Rosalba O"Brien) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.