Most Latam FX rise as Trump's Treasury pick weakens dollar
Mexico c.bank policy meeting minutes due on Thursday
Yamandu Orsi wins Uruguay's presidential election
Latam FX up 0.7%, stocks add 0.5%
By Shashwat Chauhan
Nov 25 (Reuters) -Most Latin American currencies appreciated on Monday, as the dollar's global rally stalled and Treasury yields slipped after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump nominated Wall Street veteran Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.
Trump said late on Friday he would nominate prominent investor Bessent as U.S. Treasury secretary, which sent the greenback and Treasury yields lower, giving a leg up to emerging market assets.
"Bessent is generally viewed as a fiscal conservative, has been relatively transparent on his current economic views, offering greater visibility than some of the alternative candidates that were being floated for the role," Goldman Sachs analysts noted.
Some strategists said his nomination was a relief as he understands markets and his appointment could reduce the chance of severe tariffs.
Mexico's peso MXN= was up 0.4% against the dollar as the greenback weakened globally, while Colombia's peso COP= advanced 0.7%.
Minutes from the Mexican central bank's last policy meeting, where it had cut interests rates by 25-basis-points, are scheduled to be released on Thursday.
Brazil's real BRL= advanced 0.2% to 5.79 per dollar. Investors in Latin America's biggest economy are on the lookout for the government to announce a fiscal package with budget cuts for the next years any time soon.
Copper producer Chile's peso CLP= led gains in the region, up 1.1% against the dollar after falling for the last three session, as prices of the red metal rebounded. MET/L
Latin American assets have run into turbulence in November as investors mull the implications of Trump's policies on trade, tariffs and immigration, with key trading partners such as Mexico bearing the brunt of the pressure.
Continued repricing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate path has also helped the dollar globally, weakening EM currencies.
Minutes from the Fed's most recent policy meeting, where it opted to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, are due to be released on Tuesday.
MSCI's index for Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS was up 0.7% as of 10:09 a.m. ET, while a gauge for stocks .MILA00000PUS added 0.5%.
Over the weekend, official results showed center-left opposition candidate Yamandu Orsi secured victory in Uruguay's presidential election, with 99% of votes tallied, in a second-round race that pollsters expected to be closely fought.
Elsewhere in emerging markets, the Bank of Israel left interest rates unchanged for the seventh straight, saying inflation remains high but that military conflicts are keeping economic growth weak. The shekel ILS= was last up 1.5% against the dollar.
HIGHLIGHTS
** Mexico posts third-quarter current account surplus of $733 million
** Brazil posts $5.9 billion current account deficit in October
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Equities | Latest | Daily % change |
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF | 1092.7 | 0.5 |
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS | 2091.08 | 0.45 |
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP | 129263.05 | 0.11 |
Mexico IPC .MXX | 50521.38 | 0.18 |
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA | 6581.2 | 0.26 |
Argentina Merval .MERV | 2246661.49 | 1.568 |
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP | 1394.32 | 0.17 |
Currencies | Latest | Daily % change |
Brazil real BRL= | 5.7889 | 0.21 |
Mexico peso MXN= | 20.313 | 0.43 |
Chile peso CLP= | 975.4 | 1.14 |
Colombia peso COP= | 4385.68 | 0.72 |
Peru sol PEN= | 3.7769 | 0.27 |
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL | 1006 | -0.15 |
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= | 1110 | 2.25 |
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alistair Bell
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