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Brazil govt and Petrobras considering fuel price cuts
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Brazil's public sector gross debt declines in Jan
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Colombia's urban jobless rate falls slightly
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Hungary leaves base rate unchanged
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Latam FX down 0.1%, stocks down 0.2%
By Amruta Khandekar Feb 28 (Reuters) - Latam stocks were subdued on Tuesday and set for monthly declines as investors grappled with the prospect of U.S. interest rates staying higher for longer, while the currencies of Chile and Peru rose on firm copper prices. MSCI's index for Latin American stocks fell 0.2% by 1503 GMT and was headed for monthly losses of 5.8%. Limiting declines, Brazilian equities rose 0.2% as shares of state-run oil giant Petrobras climbed 1.7%. Petrobras and the federal government are considering the possibility of the firm reducing fuel prices as a way to offset the resumption of taxes levied on fuel, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. Currencies in the region fell 0.1%, after being pressured last week as signs of sticky inflation in the U.S. drove up speculation of more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, fuelling gains in the dollar . "This month was not so good in terms of risk sentiment.There was a sizable repricing in Fed hike expectations to now price in an additional three 25 bps hikes," said Juan Manuel Herrera, senior economist at Scotiabank.
Chile's peso and the Peruvian sol rose 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, tracking copper prices higher as speculators adjusted positions on hopes for a demand revival in top metals consumer China. The Brazilian real fell 0.2%, even as data showed the country's gross debt continued its downward trajectory in January, while the consolidated public sector recorded a strong primary surplus. The jobless rate in Latam's largest economy fell to 7.9% in the three months through December, statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday, below market expectations. The Mexican peso also edged 0.2% higher. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday his government had reached agreement with Tesla Inc over the company's plan to build a new plant in the northern city of Monterrey. "The fact that there's this big project that's coming in from Tesla, it's good support for the view of investment in Mexico or the strength of the currency," Herrera said. The Colombian peso fell 0.9%, snapping four straight days of gains. Data showed the country's urban jobless rate fell slightly to 14.5% in January from 14.8% in the same month of 2022. The Colombian government's health reform plan will cost from $1.86 billion to $2.64 billion each year for the next decade, the Finance Ministry said late on Monday.
Elsewhere, the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) left its base rate unchanged at 13% on Tuesday, as expected.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1503 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 964.06 -0.33 MSCI LatAm 2196.06 -0.26 Brazil Bovespa 105925.18 0.2 Mexico IPC 52741.39 -0.51 Chile IPSA 5373.92 0.31 Argentina MerVal 251621.68 0.462 Colombia COLCAP 1210.02 0.32 Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 5.2162 -0.19 Mexico peso 18.3188 0.17 Chile peso 829.5 0.33 Colombia peso 4802.94 -0.93
Peru sol 3.7984 0.4 Argentina peso 197.1700 -0.18
(interbank) Argentina peso 373 1.61
(parallel) (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
