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Brazil reports first current account surplus for March in
17
years
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Argentina’s peso, at record lows in black market
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Mexican economy grows 0.1% in February from January
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Brazil retail sales down 0.1% in February
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Latam FX slips 0.1%, stocks down 0.9%
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar April 25 (Reuters) - The Mexican peso snapped a four-day winning streak on Tuesday after data showed its economy grew less than expected in February and a stronger dollar weighed on currencies of commodity-heavy Latin America. The peso eased 0.4% against the greenback by 1450 GMT after data showed Mexico's economy grew 0.1% in February from January and expanded 3.8% from February of 2022, missing analyst estimates. "Their manufacturing is now under stress because of the U.S.'s weakening industrial sector. We also believe that the tight financial conditions and relatively high inflation will put a lid on the services economy," said Andres Abadia, chief Latam economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "Overall, the growth momentum will start to ease over the next few months but it won't collapse, it is just a normal slowdown."
Overall, the MSCI's index for Latin American currencies slipped 0.1%, as the dollar index headed for its best day in over a week amid deepening worries about earnings and the outlook for the global economy. Brazil's real fell 0.6% against a stronger dollar.
Central bank data showed Brazil posted a current account surplus of $286 million in March, the strongest data for the month in 17 years, boosted by a strong trade balance performance. Brazilian central bank Governor Roberto Campos Neto said the country's current interest rate is consistent with its inflation issue, stating that core inflation remains elevated, fueled by demand-driven factors in consumer prices. Another set of figures showed Brazilian retail sales dropped 0.1% in February compared with the previous month, although advancing 1.0% from the same month a year earlier. Argentina's peso tumbled to a fresh record low in the popular black market as an election build-up sows uncertainty and the economy shows strains beyond the country's all-important grains exports, hit by a crippling drought. Top copper producer Chile's peso shed 0.2%, heading for its third straight session of losses, while oil exporter Colombia's peso eased 0.6%. Peru's sol edged up 0.3% against the dollar. Emerging market stocks fell 0.9% and were set for their third straight day of losses as weakness in metal and crude prices weighed on stocks in the commodity-heavy region. Brazilian stocks shed 1.1%, led by miners like Vale SA , while Colombia's state-owned oil company Ecopetrol fell 3.7% weighing on the MSCI COLCAP . Elsewhere in emerging markets, the Hungarian forint slipped 0.2% against the euro after its central bank slashed the top of its interest rate corridor by 450 basis points to 20.5%, while leaving other rates unchanged.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Stock indexes Latest Daily
%
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 964.21 -1.35
MSCI LatAm 2204.70 -0.87
Brazil Bovespa 102893.9 -1.01
4
Mexico IPC 54515.17 -0.36
Chile IPSA 5308.00 0.21
Argentina MerVal 300404.7 0.328
8
Colombia COLCAP 1211.75 -1.1
Currencies Latest Daily % change Brazil real 5.0672 -0.54 Mexico peso 18.0717 -0.58 Chile peso 816 0.10 Colombia peso 4494.4 -0.73 Peru sol 3.7533 -0.37 Argentina peso (interbank) 220.8200 -0.27 Argentina peso (parallel) 478 -3.35
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean)
@BansariKamdar;))