By Bruno Federowski BRASILIA, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Latin American markets were range-bound on Wednesday as traders took a cautious stance ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates flat after raising them seven times since December 2015. Traders will parse the Fed's policy statement, scheduled for 1800 GMT, for clues over how many hikes are yet to come this year. Economists say solid economic growth and rising inflation are likely to warrant an additional two increases in 2018, even as U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up criticism of the Fed's tightening. "In a way, the market is growing less sensitive to Trump's remarks," H.Commcor brokerage trader Cleber Alessie said. Higher rates could curb demand for emerging-market assets, which offer higher yields. Currencies from Brazil, Mexico and Colombia firmed between 0.1 and 0.3 percent. The Chilean peso underperformed, falling 0.6 percent as copper prices slumped due to concerns over escalating trade tensions. A source familiar with the matter said Washington plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods after initially setting them at 10 percent, escalating the dispute between the world's two biggest economies. Declining prices of basic materials weighed on shares of miners, such as Brazil's Vale SA. Yet shares of lender Itaú Unibanco Holding SA rebounded from the previous day's losses, pulling up stocks in other banks and helping to keep the benchmark Bovespa stock index nearly flat. Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1525 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 1087.26 -0.02 -6.13 MSCI LatAm 2708.51 0.23 -4.45 Brazil Bovespa 79243.00 0.03 3.72 Mexico IPC 49717.75 0.04 0.74 Chile IPSA 5433.62 -0.02 -2.35 Chile IGPA 27334.42 -0.09 -2.31 Argentina MerVal 29396.89 0.37 -2.22 Colombia IGBC 12140.72 0.03 6.77 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.7452 0.20 -11.53 Mexico peso 18.5950 0.28 5.94 Chile peso 640.35 -0.55 -4.01 Colombia peso 2885.26 0.10 3.35 Peru sol 3.272 0.00 -1.07 Argentina peso (interbank) 27.6700 -0.90 -32.78 Argentina peso (parallel) 28.35 -0.35 -32.17 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; editing by Grant McCool)