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Chile economic activity beats forecasts in Jan
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Brazil manufacturing activity improves in Feb
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Latam FX up 0.5%, stocks rise 0.2%
By Amruta Khandekar March 1 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and currencies rose on Wednesday as upbeat manufacturing activity in China bolstered risk sentiment, with the Chilean peso leading gains among peers after data showed better-than-expected economic growth in the country in January. China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, according to official data, bringing cheer to equity markets hammered in February by concerns about the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary tightening lasting much longer than expected. MSCI's index for Latin American stocks rose 0.2% by 1450 GMT, after ending February with the biggest monthly loss since June. The index trailed broader EM stocks , which jumped 2.3% and were poised for their largest single-day percentage gain in over seven weeks. Currencies in the region gained 0.5% against a weaker dollar on Wednesday, with Chile's peso up 1.6%, extending gains for the second straight day. Chile's economic activity in January beat market forecasts and put an end to a negative string of four consecutive monthly drops, data showed on Wednesday. Also supporting the peso were copper prices that firmed after the data from China, the top consumer of the metal. "Going forward, high inflation, a very restrictive monetary stance, tighter global financial conditions and policy uncertainty continue to be headwinds for activity," Sergio Armella, an economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note. "Still, we remain more constructive on growth than the central bank (of Chile) ... and see potential upside from the impact China's reopening could have on Chile via a positive terms-of-trade shock." The strong economic data could lead markets to further discount the odds of a rate cut by the central bank of Chile at its April meeting, Scotiabank economists said. The currency of Peru , the second biggest producer of copper after Chile, rose 0.3%, with data showing the country's consumer prices rose 0.29% in February. The Brazilian real rose 0.3%, with the country's manufacturing activity improving moderately in February from January, according to a report from S&P Global. Mexico's peso rose 0.4% against the greenback, while Colombia's peso edged 0.1% lower. Omar Mejia, recently appointed deputy governor of Mexico's central bank, said on Wednesday the institution could consider slowing the pace of raising its key interest rate. Elsewhere, Nigeria's ruling party candidate, Bola Tinubu, was declared president-elect of Africa's most populous nation on Wednesday after a weekend election that the main opposition parties have disputed.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1450 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 985.89 2.27 MSCI LatAm 2189.36 0.15 Brazil Bovespa 104088.59 -0.8 Mexico IPC 52909.63 0.29 Chile IPSA 5385.76 -0.17 Argentina MerVal 247998.01 0.218 Colombia COLCAP 1197.04 0.8 Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 5.2099 0.29 Mexico peso 18.2200 0.44 Chile peso 814.5 1.58 Colombia peso 4862.66 -0.12
Peru sol 3.7686 0.32 Argentina peso 197.5400 -0.19
(interbank) Argentina peso 371 1.08
(parallel) (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
