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Chile central bank to gradually lower FX forward sales
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Peru's president names four new ministers
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Mexico inflation in April at lowest since Oct 2021
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Latam FX, stocks down 0.4%
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar April 24 (Reuters) - The Chilean peso fell on Monday on central bank plans to reduce its forward operations and concerns over the nationalization of Chile's lithium industry, while Argentina's peso also fell. Chile's peso shed 1.4% against the dollar after the central bank said that it will start gradually reducing its forward dollar sales operations program. In July 2022 it announced a $25 billion intervention in the foreign exchange market after the peso fell to a record low. Investors were also spooked by the Andean nation's move to boost state control over its lithium industry as it seeks to diversify from mining into batteries and other areas. In Argentina, the parallel market peso slid 0.7% to 445 against the dollar, extending Friday's sharp losses after President Alberto Fernández said he will not seek re-election. "In the near-term, the key will be if the ruling Peronists manage to muddle through with their unconventional measures to avoid a devaluation," said Kimberley Sperrfechter, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. The peso's depreciation in recent days in alternative exchange venues, rising inflation and other economic doubts add to political tensions ahead of this year's presidential elections in Latin America's third largest economy. The MSCI index for Latin American currencies and stocks each shed 0.4% by 1435 GMT.
The Mexican peso was 0.1% lower against the dollar after the national statistics agency said inflation slowed in the first half of April and hit its lowest level since October 2021, fueling expectations Mexico's central bank may have completed a long cycle of interest rate hikes.
Brazil's real eased 0.4% against a weakening dollar. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva again criticized Brazil's interest rate levels, saying at an event in Portugal that local lending costs were excessively high. The Peruvian sol edged up 0.3% after President Dina Boluarte on Sunday swore in new ministers of justice, education, work and external trade in a surprise move. Colombia's peso extended gains by 0.9% for its third consecutive session, with investors focused on Friday's central bank meeting where the monetary policy committee is expected to keep rates unchanged at 13%.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies: Stock indexes Latest Daily % change MSCI Emerging Markets 977.01 -0.38 MSCI LatAm 2221.57 -0.35 Brazil Bovespa 104540.49 0.17 Mexico IPC 54479.87 0.56 Chile IPSA 5282.43 1.06 Argentina MerVal 294953.09 1.397 Colombia COLCAP 1221.96 0.5
Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.0786 -0.39 Mexico peso 18.0280 -0.33 Chile peso 814 -2.06 Colombia peso 4473.67 0.88 Peru sol 3.7578 -0.25 Argentina peso (interbank) 220.2200 -0.77 Argentina peso (parallel) 445 -0.67 (Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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