*

Colombia's Grupo Aval rises on higher Q4 profit

*

Brazil's Cogna up after rating upgrade

*

FX, stocks flat

By Shashwat Chauhan

March 5 (Reuters) - Currencies of copper-producing

nations dipped on Tuesday, as copper prices came under pressure

on a lack of big-ticket stimulus plans from China's ongoing

annual parliament session.

Top producer Chile's peso depreciated 0.3% to 978.3

per dollar, while Peru's sol fell 0.4%.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced an ambitious 2024

economic growth target of around 5%, promising steps to

transform China's development model and defuse risks fuelled by

bankrupt property developers and indebted cities.

"Interestingly, 'transforming the growth model' and 'making

structural adjustments' seemed the most significant call to

action, but were perhaps too vague to elicit a response from

traders," Macquarie strategists said.

Bucking the trend, Mexico's peso appreciated 0.2%,

hovering near its highest level in seven weeks.

Brazil's real was flat against the dollar after two

successive days of gains as iron ore prices were mixed.

Separately, private sector economists in Brazil reduced

their estimates for inflation in 2024 to 3.76% from 3.80% a week

earlier.

At 10:02 a.m. ET (1502 GMT), MSCI's index for Latin American

stocks and stocks were both

flat, shrugging off the initial gloom.

Chile's main stock index lagged regional peers,

down 1.3%, while Mexico also fell 0.3%.

Shares in Buenos Aires also had a weak start to the

day, down 0.2%.

Heavyweight Brazilian shares rose 0.1%, boosted by

consumer staples and utilities stocks.

Amongst headlining stocks, education company Cogna

advanced 6.2% after analysts at XP Investimentos

upgraded their recommendation to "buy".

Colombian financial conglomerate Grupo Aval

advanced 2.3% after posting a year-over-year rise in net profit

in the fourth quarter.

Globally, sentiment remained risk-off ahead of a crucial

U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later in the week, which could

be key in gauging the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook.

HIGHLIGHTS

** Bloomberg to add Indian bonds to EM debt indexes from

January 2025

** Producer prices in Brazil fall 0.31% in January

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

Stock indexes Latest Daily % change

MSCI Emerging 1022.29 -0.79

Markets

MSCI LatAm 2519.53 0.01

Brazil Bovespa 128426.36 0.07

Mexico IPC 55287.03 -0.32

Chile IPSA 6255.71 -1.34

Argentina MerVal 1045549.6 -0.197

4

Colombia COLCAP 1288.87 0.02

Currencies Latest Daily % change

Brazil real 4.9458 0.04

Mexico peso 16.9229 0.22

Chile peso 978.4 -0.30

Colombia peso 3939.02 0.08

Peru sol 3.7763 -0.36

Argentina peso 845.0000 -0.06

(interbank)

Argentina peso 990 2.53

(parallel)

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru)