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Brazil's outstanding loans decrease in Jan
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Mexico posts $32 mln trade surplus in Jan
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Chile's unemployment rises slightly in Nov-Jan
By Amruta Khandekar Feb 27 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies and stocks were flat on Monday, with investors awaiting a slew of economic data from the region this week, while the Colombian peso extended gains for the fourth straight session. MSCI's index for Latin American currencies was muted against a softer dollar at 1449 GMT, outpacing a 0.2% decline in broader emerging market currencies . Colombia's peso rose 0.5% against the dollar, extending gains from the previous week even as oil prices slipped. The country is among leading crude exporters in the Latam region. The Brazilian real edged 0.1% lower. Data showed outstanding loans in the country decreased by 0.3% in January, marking the first decline in a year and suggesting an economic slowdown. Investors now await a report on Brazil's fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) due on Thursday. "We expect GDP to post a third growth in the year. That said, the economy starts losing momentum ... mostly due to the lagged effects of higher interest rates and global headwinds," Rabobank strategists Mauricio Une and Renan Alves said in a note. There could be a decision from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government over fuel taxes this week, the strategists added. Mexico's peso was flat against the greenback. Latam's second-largest economy posted a $32 million trade surplus in January when adjusted for seasonal swings, data showed on Monday. Mexico's citizens on Sunday staged what appeared to be the largest protest so far against President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration to condemn government moves to shrink the electoral authority as a threat to democracy. The Chilean peso , which was the worst hit among major Latam currencies last week, fell 0.8% as copper prices declined. Chile's unemployment rate hit 8.0% in the November-January period, government statistics agency INE said on Monday, matching economists' forecasts in a Reuters poll and up from 7.9% in the quarter through December. A host of data, including on the Andean nation's manufacturing output is also due later this week. Latin American stocks were flat on Monday, while broader emerging market (EM) stocks fell 0.6%. After kicking off 2023 on a strong note, EM assets have come under pressure in recent weeks after data showing surprising strength in the U.S. economy doused expectations of the Federal Reserve pausing its rate hiking cycle, weighing on risk sentiment and bolstering the dollar . "Likely further short-term USD upside suggests that EM FX will remain on the back foot versus USD amid a tightening in U.S. rate expectations," TD Securities strategists said in a note.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1449 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 966.46 -0.56 MSCI LatAm 2194.20 -0.02 Brazil Bovespa 105668.93 -0.12 Mexico IPC 0.00 0 Chile IPSA 5369.33 0.71 Argentina MerVal 251276.33 1.189 Colombia COLCAP 1194.45 0.08 Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.2020 -0.08 Mexico peso 18.4028 -0.06 Chile peso 833.4 -0.79 Colombia peso 4814.2 0.48 Peru sol 3.809 0.26 Argentina peso 196.8100 -0.55 (interbank) Argentina peso 373 1.61 (parallel) (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
