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Latam FX down 0.1%, stocks off 0.2%

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Brazil's services sector grows more than expected in Jan

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Argentina Senate rejects economic 'mega decree'

By Shristi Achar A

March 15 (Reuters) - Latin American currencies and

stocks were subdued on Friday as investor sentiment remained

tepid due to waning hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut in June,

while Brazilian equities underperformed peers on weakness in

miners.

The U.S. dollar was steady, although on track for

weekly gains, as data showing persistent inflationary pressures

in the U.S. earlier this week led investors to trim bets of rate

cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.

The MSCI index tracking Latin American currencies

dipped 0.1%.

The index, however, was set for its third straight week in

the green, with Chile's peso among top weekly performers as the

copper-exporting region's currency benefited from a jump in

prices of the red metal.

The peso was down 0.2% on Friday but set for a weekly

advance of 2%.

A gauge of Latin American stocks was down

0.2% but eyed gains of nearly 1% for the week.

"While there has been some repricing in US rates, we believe

that high-for-longer rates and inflation is still the most

underpriced risk in LatAm," analysts at BofA Global Research

noted.

Brazil's Bovespa index underperformed Latam peers,

falling 0.5%, pressured by losses in mining stocks as futures

for iron ore, one of the country's top exports, tumbled to a

more than six-month low.

Also weighing on the index was a 4% drop in shares of

Brazilian retailer Lojas Renner following quarterly

results.

Focus was also on Argentina, whose Senate on Thursday voted

to reject President Javier Milei's sprawling "mega decree" of

economic reforms, a major blow to the libertarian leader's

austerity agenda as he tries to remedy the ailing economy.

Argentina's Merval index shed 0.1% while the

Argentine peso weakened to 1,010 per dollar in parallel

black market trade.

The Brazilian real was flat. Data showed Brazil's

services activity grew more than expected in January, making it

the third consecutive monthly expansion of the sector in Latin

America's largest economy.

Separately, Brazil's central bank is set to ease borrowing

costs by another 50 basis points in its policy meeting next

week, a Reuters poll showed.

Major copper producer Peru's sol weakened to 3.6928

per dollar.

Peru's Congress knocked down legislation that threatened to

shut down thousands of small-scale mine operations, after days

of fierce protests from artisanal miners in the major gold

producer and global No. 2 copper producing nation.

The Colombian peso ticked up 0.1%.

Shares in Mexico's Femsa gained 1.7% as the

retailer entered an accelerated share repurchase agreement.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1440 GMT:

Stock indexes Latest Daily % change

MSCI Emerging Markets 1035.52 -1.25

MSCI LatAm 2510.33 -0.25

Brazil Bovespa 127095.27 -0.47

Mexico IPC 56236.95 0.32

Chile IPSA 6469.16 0.13

Argentina MerVal 1038029.08 -0.103

Colombia COLCAP 1287.37 0.33

Currencies Latest Daily % change

Brazil real 4.9873 -0.01

Mexico peso 16.7046 -0.05

Chile peso 942 -0.24

Colombia peso 3885.51 0.12

Peru sol 3.6928 -0.54

Argentina peso 850.5000 0.00

(interbank)

Argentina peso 1010 1.49

(parallel)