Latam FX poised for weekly declines, eyes on China stimulus
Updated at 1416 GMT
Brazil c.bank announces rollover of swaps maturing in Dec
Mexican Senate passes regulation on popular election of judges
Peru c.bank unexpectedly holds benchmark interest rates
MSCI Latam stocks index off 0.6%%, FX slips 0.4%
By Johann M Cherian
Oct 11 (Reuters) -Most currencies in Latin America edged up on Friday against a steady dollar but were set for weekly declines as investors awaited a fiscal stimulus announcement from China, while Brazil's real depreciated to hit a one-month low.
Brazil's real BRL= weakened over 1% and was set for its biggest weekly drop in nearly two years, tracking a weekly drop in iron ore prices, the country's top export. IRN/
The domestic central bank said it would hold auctions starting on Friday to roll over $15.5 billion in traditional currency swaps expiring on Dec. 2.
Separately, services sector activity, a large contributor to the region's largest economy, unexpectedly fell in August, interrupting a two-month growth streak that had led the sector to reach a record high in July.
Mexico's peso MXN= was flat but was set for weekly losses as investors priced in more interest rate cuts by Banxico following data pointing to moderating price pressures earlier this week.
Mexican senators passed regulations stipulating how a judicial overhaul that reforms the country's constitution will be implemented to popularly elect judges.
Investors sold off the peso earlier this year on uncertainty over the implications of the judicial overhaul.
Peru's sol PEN= slipped 1%. The currency had touched its lowest levels in over two weeks in the previous session, but pared losses to close little changed after the local central bank held the benchmark interest rate at 5.25% in a surprise move.
"We expect that, if current trends in inflation and economic conditions persist over the next few months, there likely will be room for further cuts, potentially lowering the policy rate to 4.75% by year-end," said Andrés Abadía, chief LatAm economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
MSCI's index tracking currencies .MAILA00000CUS dropped 0.4% against the dollar and was poised for weekly declines, tracking global uncertainty over top commodity consumer China's fiscal stimulus.
The greenback was steady as investors priced in a smaller interest rate cut of 25 basis points by the Federal Reserve at its November meeting after data showed producer prices were little changed in September.
Investors in the resources-rich economies awaited China's finance ministry's press conference on Saturday.
Copper producer Chile's peso CLP= and oil exporter Colombia's peso COP= edged up 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.
MSCI's index tracking regional bourses .MILA00000PUS dropped 0.6% and was set for its biggest weekly drop since July.
Brazil's Bovespa .BVSP lost 0.7%, with financials stocks among top drags.
Colombia's Colcap .COLCAP was flat, while Mexico's main index .MXX dipped 0.3%.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Latin American market prices from Reuters | ||
Equities | Latest | Daily % change |
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF | 1159.35 | 0.21 |
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS | 2182.55 | -0.58 |
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP | 129379.43 | -0.75 |
Mexico IPC .MXX | 52240.54 | -0.29 |
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA | 6574.9 | -0.06 |
Argentina Merval .MERV | 1782989.12 | 0.624 |
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP | 1310.65 | 0.04 |
Currencies | Latest | Daily % change |
Brazil real BRL= | 5.633 | -0.91 |
Mexico peso MXN= | 19.452 | -0.01 |
Chile peso CLP= | 926.5 | 0.26 |
Colombia peso COP= | 4186.05 | 0.43 |
Peru sol PEN= | 3.759 | -1.05 |
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL | 974.5 | 0.05 |
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= | 1160 | 1.29 |
Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru
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