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EMERGING MARKETS-Latin American currencies muted as investors assess business activity data
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EMERGING MARKETS-Latin American currencies muted as investors assess business activity data
Jul 1, 2024 9:15 AM

(Updated at 1507 GMT)

*

Chile's economic activity up 1.1% in May, below forecasts

*

Brazil's Petrobras hikes jet fuel prices by 3.2%

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Peru consumer prices rise 0.12% in June

*

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)

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