(Updated at 1507 GMT)
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Chile's economic activity up 1.1% in May, below forecasts
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Brazil's Petrobras hikes jet fuel prices by 3.2%
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Peru consumer prices rise 0.12% in June
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Turkish stocks set for biggest daily drop in three months
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Latin American stocks up 0.2%, currencies down 0.5%
By Johann M Cherian
July 1 (Reuters) - Currencies across most resource-rich
Latin American economies were largely unchanged on Monday as
investors focused on factory activity surveys out of major
economies in the region.
MSCI's index tracking Latin American currencies
slipped 0.5% against the dollar, with markets
bracing for key U.S. employment data later this week.
Brazil's real ticked up 0.1% as the price of iron
ore, the country's top export, notched a two-week high, while a
survey showed manufacturing activity in June stood at 52.5,
slightly higher than the 52.1 reading in May.
However, the currency traded at levels seen two and a half
years ago, after notching its largest quarterly loss since the
COVID-19 pandemic on Friday.
Mexico's peso slipped 0.5%, extending declines in
June that also saw the currency notch its biggest quarterly drop
since the pandemic. A survey showed business activity in June
stood at 51.1, a notch lower than 51.2 in the prior month.
Political uncertainty has dominated investors' mood, with
concerns of fiscal sustainability and central bank independence
in Brazil and worries in Mexico that President-elect Claudia
Sheinbaum might undertake judicial reforms.
Meanwhile, Chile's peso climbed 0.2%. An index
tracking domestic economic activity ticked up 1.1% in May on an
annual basis, landing below the 2.8% growth expected by
economists polled by Reuters.
"The ongoing drag from still-tight financial conditions, and
temporary issues in key sectors, have put a lid on the recovery
in recent months. Still, the persistent sluggishness of
confidence indicators suggests the upturn will remain sub-par by
previous standards," said Andres Abadia, chief Latin America
economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Peru's sol climbed 0.3% as prices of the red metal
were also helped by better-than-expected manufacturing activity
data out of top consumer China.
On the equities front, MSCI's index tracking local equity
indexes edged up 0.1%, though Brazil's Bovespa
added 0.7%.
Petrobras gained nearly 1% after the state-run
oil giant raised jet fuel prices to distributors by an average
3.2%.
Mexico's main stock index added 0.6%, with Grupo
Mexico jumping 2.1% after a report said miner
Southern Copper ( SCCO ) will likely finish building its Tia
Maria copper project in southern Peru in up to two years and
then begin production in 2027.
Peruvian equities were flat after data showed
consumer price inflation in the South American country
accelerated 0.12% in June, bouncing from a 0.09% drop in May.
Elsewhere, Turkish stocks lost 2.4% and banks
dropped more than 3% after the country's finance
minister, Mehmet Simsek, announced measures to modernize the
country's tax system, which included raising corporate tax on
public-private partnerships and a possible proposal on stock
market gains.
Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:
Latin American market
prices from Reuters
Stock indexes Latest Daily %
change
MSCI Emerging Markets 1086.41 0.01
MSCI LatAm 2181.86 0.13
Brazil Bovespa 124839.94 0.75
Mexico IPC 52714.16 0.52
Chile IPSA 6450.25 0.57
Argentina MerVal 1600486.40 -0.671
Colombia COLCAP 1380.90 0.31
Currencies Latest Daily %
change
Brazil real 5.5912 -0.02
Mexico peso 18.4320 -0.55
Chile peso 938.8 0.16
Colombia peso 4133.5 0.37
Peru sol 3.8481 -0.50
Argentina peso 913.5000 -0.16
(interbank)
Argentina peso 1370 -0.36
(parallel)