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Brazil inflation likely stayed high in March- poll
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Chile's copper exports rise in March
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Latam FX flat; stocks up 0.8%
(Updates prices, details)
By Amruta Khandekar
April 10 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies were
muted against a stronger dollar on Monday after data showing a
resilient U.S. labour market bolstered bets of another rate hike
from the Federal Reserve, while stocks in the region gained on a
boost from Brazilian shares.
Employers in the United States maintained a strong pace of
hiring in March, a closely watched report showed on Friday, when
the U.S. and most Latin American markets were closed for the
Good Friday holiday.
The data bolstered expectations of a 25 basis point rate
hike from the Fed in May, dampening hopes of a pause in
tightening that was driven by a slew of weak economic data
preceding the jobs report.
MSCI's Latin American currencies index was
flat by 1745 GMT on Monday and off session lows.
"I think they (the Fed) will go 25 bps, but things are very
data dependent and we will continue to see huge moves off the
back of data releases," said Christian Lawrence, senior cross
asset strategist at Rabobank.
Investor focus this week will be on U.S. consumer and
producer inflation data, as well as the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund's spring meetings in Washington.
"This is the week that could tell us that the U.S. consumer
is no longer showing resilience and in fact is rather weak,"
said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA in a note.
The Brazilian real fell 0.3% against the greenback, a
day ahead of an inflation reading that will come at a time when
President Luiz Inacio Lula has been criticising the central
bank's hawkish stance.
Brazil's inflation likely stayed high in March on rising gasoline bills and resurging cost of living problems in the country's stagnant economy, a Reuters poll showed. The Brazilian government expects monetary policy next year not to be as restrictive as in 2023, an economy ministry official said on Monday, stressing that a new fiscal framework proposed by the administration would help bring interest rates down. Mexico's peso dipped 0.1%, snapping two straight sessions of gains. The country's automotive production and exports rose in March from a year earlier, data showed on Monday. The Chilean peso reversed early declines to rise 0.3% against the dollar. The world's top copper producer saw exports of the metal reach $4.59 billion in March, up 9.9% from a year earlier, the central bank said on Monday. The Colombian peso also advanced 0.2% while the Peruvian sol inched 0.2% lower. Peru expects to produce 2.8 million tonnes of copper in 2023, Minister of Energy and Mines Oscar Vera said in a news conference on Monday. The production target represents an almost 15% jump from last year. Latam stocks rose 0.8%, helped by a near 1% rise in Brazil's Bovespa index with materials stocks among the biggest boosts. Equities in Mexico also rose 0.8%. The country's main stock exchange had briefly suspended trading on Monday morning after a technical failure with its information system.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1745 GMT:
Stock indexes Latest Daily % change
MSCI Emerging Markets 988.26 0.12 MSCI LatAm 2183.32 0.79 Brazil Bovespa 101736.61 0.91 Mexico IPC 53915.38 0.78 Chile IPSA 5268.79 -0.1 Argentina MerVal 0.00 0 Colombia COLCAP 1194.70 0.09 Currencies Latest Daily % change
Brazil real 5.0704 -0.25
Mexico peso 18.1386 -0.13 Chile peso 818.5 0.25
Colombia peso 4560 0.11
Peru sol 3.7772 -0.74
Argentina peso 213.3300 -0.98
(interbank) Argentina peso 387 1.29
(parallel) (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and
Susan Fenton)
