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Mexico's peso wobbles as investors assess Banxico minutes

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US jobs report shows mixed labor market signals

(Updates with afternoon trading)

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Most Latin American stocks fell on

Thursday as global sentiment waned after a Nvidia ( NVDA )-driven rally

lost momentum, while currencies slipped with the strengthening

U.S. dollar following a jobs report that clouded prospects of

further U.S. interest rate cuts.

Meanwhile, Mexico's peso wavered as central bank

minutes indicated policymakers were willing to take a measured

approach to monetary policy easing.

MSCI's index tracking Latin American currencies

was little changed, while an index tracking

regional stocks fell 0.5%.

"Global sentiment is moving Latin American markets...they

cannot escape the ups and downs of global markets, particularly

the U.S. stock market. So, it's not a surprise that they are

basically synchronizing with the U.S. markets," said Alfredo

Coutino, director for Latin America at Moody's Analytics.

U.S. stocks declined as enthusiasm driven by Nvidia's ( NVDA )

earnings faded, with investors questioning lofty

valuations in the technology sector, while uncertainty around

the U.S. monetary policy path weighed on investor sentiment.

Data showed U.S. job growth accelerated in September, but

the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, suggesting labor market

conditions remained sluggish.

Latin American assets have had a stellar year, with the MSCI

stocks index on track for its biggest annual gain since 2009,

while the currencies index is poised to log its steepest gain

ever.

EMERGING MARKETS GAINED FROM RELATIVELY LOWER U.S. TARIFFS

Risk sentiment got a boost this year from lower U.S. tariff

rates for emerging market economies than most other economies,

coupled with elections that yielded support for market-friendly

candidates in Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador.

"People are starting to think what 2026 might look like,"

said Eduardo Ordonez Bueso, an emerging markets debt portfolio

manager at BankInvest.

"Everything is so expensive across the board. So it's just

about recalibrating and thinking about what is desirable after a

strong year's performance."

The U.S. jobs report was delayed due to a prolonged U.S.

government shutdown, during which investors and policymakers had

little clarity on the health of the world's largest economy and

the direction the Federal Reserve could lean at its December

meeting.

Thursday's data cemented expectations that the Fed could

leave interest rates unchanged.

In Mexico, the focus was on minutes from the central bank's

meeting this month, when it cut borrowing costs to their lowest

since 2022 and projected further monetary policy easing.

A majority of Mexico's central bank governors pointed to the

country's weak economy as an argument for cutting the interest

rate despite ongoing concerns about core inflation, minutes from

the bank's November meeting showed.

The peso fell 0.3%, while local equities also

declined 0.3%.

Separately, preliminary data showed the Mexican economy was

flat in October from a year earlier.

Chile's peso edged up 0.4%, while the Santiago stock

index fell 0.7%.

Colombia's peso lost 1.1%. The country's fiscal rule

committee said the fiscal deficit will total 6.7% of gross

domestic product this year, below a 7.1% target. The country's

COLCAP Index declined 1.2%.

In Argentina, the local peso lost 1.3%, while the

benchmark stock index declined 0.6%. According to a

Reuters poll, Argentina's economic activity growth likely slowed

to 2.2% year-on-year in September, due to uncertainty generated

by October's midterm legislative elections.

Brazil markets were closed for a public holiday.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

Equities Latest Daily %

change

MSCI Emerging Markets 1370.49 0.75

MSCI LatAm 2631.89 -0.49

Brazil Bovespa 155380.66 -0.73

Mexico IPC 61901.23 -0.29

Chile IPSA 9805.33 -0.69

Argentina Merval 2852095.64 -0.614

Colombia COLCAP 2036.36 -1.22

Currencies Latest Daily %

change

Brazil real 5.3297 0.01

Mexico peso 18.384 -0.27

Chile peso 928.74 0.43

Colombia peso 3757.5 -1.08

Peru sol 3.379 -0.04

Argentina peso (interbank) 1424 -1.28

Argentina peso (parallel) 1405 -7.82