Mexico's peso firms on Greece relief, stocks dip

* Mexico's peso firms 0.49 pct, stocks edge down

* Greece deal, US data support currency

* Cemex slumps for third session

MEXICO CITY, March 26 (Reuters) - Mexico's peso firmed on Friday as a European Union standby plan to aid Greece supported bids for riskier assets.

The peso MXN= MEX01 firmed 0.49 percent to 12.489 per U.S. dollar while the IPC stock index .MXX edged down 0.05 percent to 33,147.81, tracking a tepid performance by U.S. stocks.

Euro zone leaders agreed on an aid package under which Greece would receive both bilateral loans from EU partners and funding from the International Monetary Fund if it faced severe difficulties. [ID:nLDE62N2R1]

"The nervousness about the fiscal situation in Europe is dissipating after reaching the bilateral deal involving the IMF," said Gabriela Siller, an analyst at brokerage BASE in Monterrey in a note to clients.

Persistent worries about a debt default by Greece have rattled global markets in recent months. Emerging market currencies like the peso would likely suffer steeper losses if debt troubles in Europe spur a wider financial crisis.

In economic U.S. data, sentiment in March as seen in Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers held steady from February at 73.6 but was slightly above the 73.0 forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

Mexico is depending on a rebound in U.S. consumer demand to help it recover from a deep recession last year. Mexico sends about 80 percent of its exports to its northern neighbor.

The market looked past local data that showed the economy contracted, month-on-month, in January. [ID:nN26166796]

Local markets will close on Thursday and Friday for the Easter holiday.

"We expect to see low volume of trading next week, depending a lot on whether or not any U.S. data releases cause any noise," said Ricardo Aguilar, an analyst at brokerage Invex in Mexico City.

Mexico's only data next week is the February fiscal balance, but key U.S. reports due include personal income, the Institute for Supply Management report on factory activity and the Labor Department's March non-farm payrolls.

The U.S. data could influence bets that a U.S. recovery is helping fuel Mexico's recovery.

The peso has gained 6 percent from a Feb. 5 low, boosted by signs of a stronger-than-expected rebound in Mexican exports and investor interest in higher yielding Mexican assets at a time of low U.S. rates.

In stock trading, shares in Cemex (CMXCPO.MX) , the top U.S. cement supplier, fell 0.94 percent to 12.61 pesos.

Cemex said on Friday that it will seek shareholder approval to issue 750 million shares. [ID:nN26178297]

Cemex shares slumped for the third straight session after it said it would likely report a consolidated net loss in the first quarter. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle and Jean Luis Arce; Editing by Kenneth Barry)