Most Latam FX up as commodity prices rise
Updated at 10:35 a.m. ET/ 1935 GMT
IMF ups Brazil, Mexico 2024 growth forecast
Hungary c.bank holds lending rate at 6.5%
Latam FX up 0.4%, stocks down 0.4%
By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap
Oct 22 (Reuters) -Most currencies of resources-rich Latin America rose on Tuesday, as prices of commodities such as crude oil and copper, some of the region's top exports, rose, while focus remained on the U.S. presidential elections in two weeks.
Crude oil producer Mexico's peso MXN= gained 0.7% after falling for the last two session, while Colombia's peso COP= added 0.2% as crude oil prices rose more than 1%. O/R
Mexico's economy shrank 0.3% in August from July and expanded 0.4% from August of 2023, official data showed.
Copper producer Chile's peso CLP= gained 0.3% as prices of the red metal rose, while Peru's sol PEN= rose 0.1% in light volumes. MET/L
Bucking the trend was Brazil's real BRL=, which swung between gains and losses, holding firm at 5.6936 per dollar
MSCI's index for Latin American currencies .MILA00000CUS advanced 0.4%, while a gauge for stocks .MILA00000PUS dipped 0.4%.
Brazil's Bovespa .BVSP lost 0.9%, with shares of iron ore miner Vale VALE3.SA slipping 0.5% as prices of the commodity fell. IRONORE/
Latin American currencies have remained under pressure recently as the dollar stayed higher on better odds of Donald Trump reclaiming the White House, since his proposed tariff and tax policies are seen as inflationary, likely keeping U.S. interest rates high and undermining the currencies of trading partners.
"Over the medium term, we might see an exodus from emerging markets because the Trump effect perhaps outweighs the Fed's efforts to control inflation," said Charlie Bird, trader at Verto FX.
Separately, the International Monetary Fund said GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean was set to grow 2.1% this year, three-tenths of a percentage point more than projected in July.
The body raised its 2024 growth forecast for Brazil to 3%, up from 2.1% in July, and Mexico's forecast to expand 1.5%, seven-tenths of a percentage point less than previously estimated.
Argentina is the only one projected to contract this year, with a 3.5% decline, more than double its 1.6% drop in 2023.
A summit of the BRICS group - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - which has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, will be held in Russia from Oct. 22-24.
Elsewhere in emerging markets, Hungary's forint EURHUF= strengthened 0.3% against the euro after its central bank paused interest rate cuts at 6.5%.
HIGHLIGHTS
** IMF sees longer inflation struggle for African, Middle East countries
** Egypt's sovereign dollar bonds fall as much as 1.4 cents - Tradeweb
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Equities | Latest | Daily % change |
MSCI Emerging Markets .MSCIEF | 1142.4 | -0.52 |
MSCI LatAm .MILA00000PUS | 2158.6 | -0.50 |
Brazil Bovespa .BVSP | 129230.14 | -0.87 |
Mexico IPC .MXX | 52347.69 | -0.88 |
Chile IPSA .SPIPSA | 6672.98 | 0.03 |
Argentina Merval .MERV | 1831339.11 | 0.584 |
Colombia COLCAP .COLCAP | 1348.29 | -0.59 |
Currencies | Latest | Daily % change |
Brazil real BRL= | 5.6936 | 0.01 |
Mexico peso MXN= | 19.8306 | 0.68 |
Chile peso CLP= | 950.34 | 0.27 |
Colombia peso COP= | 4262.63 | 0.17 |
Peru sol PEN= | 3.7617 | 0.09 |
Argentina peso (interbank) ARS=RASL | 983.5 | 0.00 |
Argentina peso (parallel) ARSB= | 1225 | 1.22 |
Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond
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