* Brent, WTI rise to highest since May
* Oil price surge stokes inflationary concerns for importers
* EM stocks snap three-day winning streak
* Bleak China data raises stimulus hopes from Beijing
By Agamoni Ghosh
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Emerging market currencies took abackseat on Monday with those of major crude importers slidingas oil prices surged after an attack on Saudi Arabian facilitiescut more than 5% of the global oil supply.
The fallout from the attacks sparked supply fears, pushingBrent crude futures to record their biggest intra-daypercentage jump since the Gulf War in 1991.
But prices came off their peaks after U.S. President DonaldTrump authorised the use of the country's emergency stockpile toensure stable supply.
Further inflaming geopolitical tensions in the region, Trumpsaid the United States was "locked and loaded" for a potentialresponse to the strikes.
"Emerging market FX would be the immediate casualty,especially those affected by large oil import bills, with flightto safety expected to support gold and government bonds," saidTaimur Baig, chief economist at DBS Research.
Turkey's lira, India's rupee and Indonesia'srupiah all shed more than 0.5% against the dollar as thejump in oil prices stoked inflationary concerns.
Conversely, oil exporter Russia's rouble rose 0.6%,scaling a seven-week high, while energy companies listed on theMoscow MOEX index pushed the benchmark up 0.8%.
China's yuan was up 0.2% after a holiday weekend, asinvestors cheered signs of progress in U.S.-China tradenegotiations, but the oil surge limited gains for the currencyof the world's largest oil importer.
CHINA GROWTH PANGS
Stocks in the developing world snapped a three-daygaining streak as bleak economic data from China sapped demandfor riskier assets.
August industrial production grew at its slowest in 17 yearsin the world's second-largest economy, raising hopes thatBeijing will dole out more stimulus to boost growth.
Both the Shanghai and the blue-chip indexended lower.
While future data from China is expected to remain weak,stock markets are likely to look beyond the negative implicationof backward looking data and focus on signs of progress in thetrade war, said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist atAxiTrader.
South Korean shares rose to a seven-week high asrefineries and shipbuilders rallied on the surge in oil prices,though a fall in memory chip stocks limited gains.
Stocks in Johannesburg climbed 0.3%, but those inIstanbul fell marginally.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2019, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVhFor GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2019, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX
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For RUSSIAN market report, see(Reporting by Agamoni Ghosh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)