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Brazil inflation slows; jobless rate at record low

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Brava Energia shares soar on potential asset sale

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Latam stocks down 1%, FX indexes down 0.6%

(Updates with afternoon trading prices)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Dec 27 (Reuters) - Most Latin American markets were on

track to close a holiday-shortened week in the red on Friday,

with trading thin after the Christmas holidays as investor focus

turned to the outlook for 2025 and a strong dollar weighed on

regional currencies.

Brazil's consumer prices rose less than expected in the

month to mid-December, data showed, while separate data showed

the country's jobless rate hit a fresh record low in the

September-November period although job creation slowed.

Brazil's real slipped 0.1% against the dollar,

retracing some of Thursday's gains after the central bank

intervened in the forex markets. The real has slumped over 20%

against the dollar this year, one of the worst global

performers.

More broadly, MSCI's index for Latin American stocks

fell 1%, and on track to lose over 2% for the

week, its third straight weekly loss.

A gauge for currencies lost 0.6%, on track

for weekly losses of almost 1.3% as the dollar hovered

around two-year highs.

Mexico's peso shed 0.5%, on track for its first

weekly fall against the dollar in five.

Gains in the dollar and rising U.S. Treasury yields are set

to cement a turbulent year for emerging market assets after the

U.S. Federal Reserve signaled a slowing pace of interest rate

cuts next year, and as markets continuing to gauge the possible

impact of threatened tariffs from Donald Trump's incoming

administration and a slowing global growth picture.

"EM underperformance has broadly been due to weaker global

trade and commodity prices and a weaker China, and the Fed is

the icing on the cake," said Arthur Budaghyan, chief emerging

market strategist at BCA Research.

"The move out of emerging markets will persist into the new

year, I would not recommend buying now ...it will be very hard

for any EMs to rally in absolute terms."

Latin American markets are set for steep yearly losses -

with the regional gauges of currencies and stocks down nearly

11% and over 29%, respectively - lagging broader EM assets.

Elsewhere, the Russian rouble tumbled 5.8% against the

dollar after the central bank announced it would withdraw some

support for the currency in the first working week of 2025.

Mexican stocks outperformed, rising 0.2%.

Shares in Brazil's Brava Energia soared over 10%

after the company revealed talks with banks on a potential asset

sale.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

MSCI Emerging Markets 1082.42 -0.21

MSCI LatAm 1865.02 -1.02

Brazil Bovespa 120510.89 -0.47

Mexico IPC 49608.06 0.15

Chile IPSA 6703.05 0.18

Argentina Merval 2565910.3 -1.212

1

Colombia COLCAP 1386.98 0.03

Brazil real 6.1891 -0.1

Mexico peso 20.3315 -0.47

Chile peso 991.48 -0.28

Colombia peso 4407.5 -0.34

Peru sol 3.7464 -0.17

Argentina peso 1028.5 0.05

(interbank)

Argentina peso (parallel) 1195 1.26